Giant Rat of Sumatra

I’ll be reading new work as part of Lit Live!, an evening of prose and poetry put together by The Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre and Literary Kitchen. Held on Thursday December 11th, doors open at 7pm at The Peckham Pelican with readings starting at 7.30pm.

The roll-call includes poets, novelists and writers Barry Tench, Laura Kaye,  Charlotte Heather, N J Hynes, James Chambers, Bex Barton, Rasp Thorne, Livia Franchini, Charlotte Barrow, Jeremy Worman, Sarah Leipciger, Alistair Roberts, William Wyld, Paul Carney, Nisha Ramayya, and Kate Potts.

Many thanks to Vanguard Poetry for their recent stop-over at Royal Holloway, University of London. From their website,

 Vanguard Poetry is, at its simplest, a van full of poets, poetry, and the means to engage with and create more poetry. More than this, it’s concerned with the social and political ramifications of poetry and the written word. We provide a space where these concerns are explored. In that spirit, we’re coming to you. The van is a moveable word-hoard, designed for us to go to the audience rather than expect them to come to us.

Not only was I lucky enough to read envannishly, but also I had a chance to participate in the great poetry workshop earlier in the day hosted by poet and activist Steve Willey and a raven on a hammer. Alongside undergraduates Maisie Gibson, Anna Darnena, Taha Hussein,  Rose Walker, Francesca King, Sabriena Loh Liling and Nikki Acquah, the van also provided a stage for poets Kei Miller  and Sean Bonney to read their work.

It was a real pleasure to read to such a great, attentive audience who were not deterred by rambunctious tarpaulins nor sub-zero temperatures. Thanks to Alex Davies and Steve for the great experience: above are some snaps of the event, courtesy of attendants and Alex.