Book touring, pleasures and surprises

Before Imagined Sons came out, I'd forgotten how much pleasure it is to take a new book to audiences and feel such gratification in their attention and appreciation. Now I've read from the book in--wait, let's do the t-shirt version:

27/2 Seattle

18/3 London

22/3 Plymouth

28/3 Bradford on Avon

6/4 Cheltenham

11/4 Bristol

26/4 Providence

30/4 Claremont, New Hampshire

1/5 Cambridge, Massachusetts

5/6 Cardiff

7/6 Oxford

Here are the scheduled readings yet to come:

20/6 Reading

26/6 Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea

4-5/7 Ledbury Poetry Festival

16/7 Nottingham

8/9 Norwich

17/9 Arvon Foundation, Sheepwash

3/10 Swindon Poetry Festival

4/10 Exeter Poetry Festival

13/11 Leicester

26/11 Chicester

So it seems I'm just past the halfway point. I feel the quality of my readings from the book has improved over the ones I've already done, and I've learned a lot about what it takes to be a good reading organizer and host. One organizer failed to mention that I had books available for sale, but nearly all of the others have given me moving introductions and done their utmost to promote sales. Dennis Harrison at The Albion Beatnik Bookshop in Oxford even asked what kind of wine I liked so he could get some in!

One thing I hadn't expected was how many people approach me or buy the book because they or someone they know is an adoptee, adoptive parent, or birth parent. People want to tell me their stories, some right then, some later via email or Facebook, about their own adoption experiences. Sometimes the stories are sad ones, such as women being forced to give up their babies, while others are heartening tales of reunions of birth parent and surrendered child. If I'm just halfway through, and the reviews are just beginning to appear, I have many more stories yet to hear.

 

 

 

Things Not to Do When Reading Your Poetry to an Audience

Thanks to Facebook friends and acquaintances for their many useful suggestions! I hope anyone who reads their work publicly will take note.

1. Don't go over time. Don't ask if you're over time or coming up against the time limit. You should know how long you have and have planned your poems accordingly.
2. Don't get drunk before reading. Reading drunk is highly unattractive, however you may feel at the time.
3. Don't mumble or whisper. Enunciate your words clearly with good volume. Read at a conversational pace, neither wildly fast nor snail-slow. 
4. Don't apologize or make self-deprecating remarks about the poems.
5. Don't avoid the mic. If it's there, use it, whatever you think of your powers of projection.
6. Don't read a poem you just wrote that day, however good you think it is. 
7. Don't read from a laptop or phone. A laptop is too awkward to hold and maintain eye contact, while a phone is generally too small to read from.
8. Don't arrive late. If you're a scheduled reader, you should arrive at least fifteen minutes before the reading is due to begin.
9. Don't ask the organizer if there's time for a couple more poems. If you don't know if there's time, you're not showing the audience due consideration. 
10. Don't rock on your feet or pace. 
11. Don't play with things in your pockets (keys, change, etc.).
12. Don't give your poems lengthy introductions. Keep your remarks succinct. 
13. Don't neglect the other readers by talking or checking your phone, etc. Give them the attention you hope to receive yourself.
14. Don't read in a single tone throughout your poems. Record yourself and listen. Change what you don't like or what you think may be ineffective. If you can make a video recording of yourself reading, so you can look for mannerisms, etc., even better.
15. Don't keep your face in your book/pages. Make regular eye contact. 
16. Don't immediately flip through pages to the next poem as soon as you have finished one. Allow enough of a pause at the end of a poem that the audience is clear that it's finished.
17. Don't say where poems have been or are going to be published. It makes you seem insecure and/or arrogant.
18. Along the same lines, don't tell the audience who likes this poem--a famous author, your workshop group, your mother, etc. It won't dispose the audience to like your poem too.  


I suppose 9 and 16 annoy me the most: the former seems self-indulgent, while the latter creates confusion and makes it hard to enjoy the reading.

The Woes of Reading Poets

will have an ancillary, like the woes of poetry-going audiences, but for now, I want to consider the poets themselves and the awkward situations they find themselves in.

How about the reading where your co-reader indulged several "camel yawns" as you read? (That is, head back, mouth wide open....)

Or the reading where a friend of a friend set it up and said this was a must-read place, and the only people who turned up were four of his friends?

Or the reading where you were told you couldn't sell books?

All these happened in the first year following the release of my first book, over 21 readings. I also had some very different experiences with amazing, appreciative organizers, but I'll get to them shortly. For now, I'd be glad to hear of other poets' less than splendid reading experiences.

Readings & Events

2016

Thursday, 28 January, 7:30 p.m. Reading Linda Lamus's A Crater the Size of Calcutta with Matthew Stewart. Words & Ears, The Swan, Bradford on Avon. Open mic.


Saturday, 30 January, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (with a lunch break). Day seminar on Prose Poetry and Art at The Holburne Museum, Bath. £45/£40 concessions.

Monday, 1 February. Talk on flash fiction for the MA students in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University. 

Tuesday, 15 March, 8 p.m. Reading Linda Lamus's A Crater the Size of Calcutta. Poetry & A Pint, St James Wine Vaults' gallery room, Bath. £2/1. Open mic. 

Saturday, 19 March, 2:30-4 p.m. Reading at the Poets & Players series at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER. Tickets are free, yet booking is advised; call 0843 208 0500. More details TBA.

Saturday, 14 May, 8 p.m. Reading on the Cheltenham Poetry Festival, The Wilson Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Clarence Street, Cheltenham GL50 3JT. More details forthcoming.

Thursday, 26 May, 7 p.m. London launch of Hometown, reading with Jill Abram, Jo Bell, Tania Hershman, Hilda Sheehan and Dave Swann. The King and Queen, 1 Foley Street, London.

Friday, 3 June. 7 p.m. Readings from From Palette to Pen: An Anthology of Poetry and Art, including Sue Boyle, Dawn Gorman, Philip Gross, David Hale, Caroline Heaton, Rosie Jackson, Frances-Anne King, Wendy Klein, Anna-May Laugher, Gill Learner, Lesley Saunders, Linda Saunders and Claire Williamson.The Holburne Museum, Bath. Free!

Saturday, 25 June, 12:15-12:55 p.m. Readings for The Festival of Nature with Holly Cornfield Carr, Andrew F. Giles, Tania Horseman and Jack Thacker. Bandstand, Royal Victoria Park. Free!

Wednesday, 24 August. Reading to participants of the flash fiction course with Tania Hershman and David Swann. The Hurst, Arvon Foundation. 

Sunday, 23 October, 1-3 p.m. Poetry & Place Workshop. The Wantage (Not Just) Betjeman Literary Festival. More details TBA.

Sunday, 23 October, 4-5 p.m. Reading. The Wantage (Not Just) Betjeman Literary Festival. More details TBA.

Sunday, 13 November. Reading with Deryn Rees-Jones at the Woodstock Poetry Festival. Woodstock Town Hall, Woodstock.


2015

As my workshops in Swindon are now by individual application, I no longer list them here. For information about possible openings, please email me. 

Wednesday, 18 February, 6 p.m. University of Canterbury, Kent reading series. £2. 

Saturday, 14 March. Awards presentation for the creative writing prizes at the Mid-Somerset Festival. The Guildhall, Bath. 

Tuesday, 5 May, 8 p.m. Reading with Claire Crowther for the West Country launch of her third collection, On Narrowness. Gallery Room (upstairs), St James Wine Vaults, 10 St James Street, Bath. Free. 

Sunday, 31 May, 2:30-4 p.m. Reading with Karen McCarthy-Woolf, Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival. £6/4. The festival's full programme is available here.

Wednesday, 24 June, 6-8 p.m. Reading with Stephen Burt, Brian Bartlett and Togara Muzanenhamo at Gulliver's, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester. Free. 

Friday, 10 July. Reading and awards presentation for the Ware Poets. 

Friday, 28 August, 7:15 p.m. Poetry on Postcards launch, Central Library, Swindon. Poetry Swindon and Swindon Artists will be launching their collaborative poetry postcards series. There will be readings of the poems and a celebration of the visual art created in response, as well as a reading by yours truly. Free.  

Wednesday, 2 September, 7:30 p.m. Reading with Jacquelyn Pope, Don Share, and Hilda Sheehan, Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark, Chicago. Free. 

Monday, 28 September. Forward Prizes reading and presentation, Royal Festival Hall, London. NB I'll just be participating as a judge, not reading myself.

Friday, 30 October, 6-8 p.m. Launch of Linda Lamus's A Crater the Size of Calcutta. Upstairs at the Boston Tea Party, 75 Park Street, Bristol BS1 5PF. Free. 


Thursday, 5 November, 7:30 p.m. Reading from Linda Lamus's A Crater the Size of Calcutta alongside readings from Tamar Yoseloff and Mary-Ann Constantine. Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. An open mic is also included. £2.50.

Tuesday, 10 November, 7-9 p.m. Reading and conversation at the Ledbury Poetry Salon, Master's House, Ledbury. £5 includes a drink. 


2014 

Saturday, 25 January, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series. 

Saturday, 15 February, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series.  

Thursday, 27 February, 7-8:30 p.m. U.S. launch of Imagined Sons. Reading with Elena Karina Byrne, Jennifer Militello and Allison Benis White, Left Bank Books, 92 Pike Street, Seattle. Free.  

Saturday, 15 March, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series. 

Tuesday, 18 March, 6 p.m. for 7 p.m. reading. London/UK launch of Imagined Sons. The Yorkshire Grey (function room), 2 Theobald's Road, London WC1X 8PN. Free. 

Saturday, 22 March, 7:30 p.m., Reading at The Language Club, Plymouth Arts Centre, 38 Looe Street, Plymouth PL4 0EB. Plus open mic. £4, £2 concs.

Friday, 28 March, 7 p.m. (doors open 6-8 p.m.). Local launch and reading of Imagined Sons. The West Barn, Bradford on Avon. Free. 

Sunday, 6 April. Reading at Buzzwords, Cheltenham. 7 p.m. workshop, 8 p.m. reading.

Friday, 11 April. Reading at The Boston Tea Party, Park Street, Bristol, as part of the Park Street Poetry Series. 

Saturday, 26 April, 6 p.m. Reading at Publicly Complex with Erin Morrill and John Murillo III.  Ada Books, 717 Westminster Street, Providence.  Free.

Wednesday, 30 April, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Reading at The Charles P. Puksta Library, River Valley Community College, Claremont, New Hampshire. Free. 

Thursday, 1 May, 7-8 p.m. Reading with Jennifer Militello at Grolier Poetry Bookshop, 6 Plympton Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Free.

Saturday, 24 May, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series. 

Thursday, 5 June. Reading on the First Thursday series, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff. More details TBA. 

Saturday, 7 June, 10-4:30. Prose Poetry Day School, St. Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY. £50/£45. Enrollment must be completed in advance using the above link.

Saturday, 7 June, 6-7:30 p.m. Reading at Albion Beatnik Bookshop, 34 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AA. Includes open mic. Free for day school participants (see above), £3 others.

Saturday, 14 June, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series. 

Friday, 20 June, 8:30 p.m. Reading Poets' Cafe, South Street Arts Centre, 21 South Street, Reading RG1 4QU. £5 general, £4 concessions. Open mic included. 

Saturday, 21 June. Reading for National Flash Fiction Day, The Lansdown, Bristol. More details TBA.

Thursday, 26 June, 2-4:30. "From Thomas's Notebooks to Our Own: Writing Poetry with Dylan Thomas and Carrie Etter." Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea. £14, £11 concs; must be booked in advance with the Centre. 

Thursday, 26 June, 7:30 p.m. Reading with open mic. Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea. £4, £2.80 concs. 

Friday, 4 July, 6-7:15 p.m. Reading with Michael Symmons Roberts and the Festival's young poet in residence, Dom Hale. Ledbury Poetry Festival, The Baptist Hall, Ledbury. £6.  

Saturday, 5 July, 12:15-12:35 p.m. "Twenty Minutes with...Carrie Etter and Ruth Stacey." Ledbury Poetry Festival, Shell House Gallery, Ledbury. Free.

Wednesday, 16 July, 8-11 p.m. Reading at Jazz and Poetry, Bar Deux/Guitar Bar, Clumber Avenue, Sherwood Rise, Nottingham NG5 1AP. Further details TBA.

Saturday, 19 July, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Poetry workshops, Swindon. For further details, see Hilda Sheehan's page on this series.  

Monday, 8 September. Reading at Cafe Writers, Norwich. More details forthcoming. 

Wednesday, 17 September. Guest reader on Arvon course at Totleigh Barton, Sheepwash, Devon. For course attendees &c. only.  

Friday, 3 October, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Reading with Jacquelyn Pope. Swindon Poetry Festival, Lower Shaw Farm. 

Saturday, 4 October. Reading with Fiona Benson, Exeter Poetry Festival. More details forthcoming. 

Thursday, 13 November, 6 p.m. Literary Leicester reading with Moniza Alvi at the Library Lecture Theatre, University of Leicester.

Wednesday, 26 November, 7:30 p.m. New Park Community Centre, New Park Road, Chichester PO19 7XY. With open mic. 
  

2013

Thursday, 3 January, 7 p.m. Reading at Re:Verse, Cometogetherspace Gallery, 212 N. Roosevelt Avenue, Bloomington, Illinois. An open reading will follow. $5 suggested donation. 

Saturday, 12 January, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Seminar on publishing poetry in magazines, pamphlets and books. 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced poetry workshop, by admission. BlueGate Poets at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Saturday, 9 February, 7 p.m. Camarade Project, with readings from writer pairs Roddy Lumsden and I, Chris McCabe and Tom Jenks, George Szirtes  and Carol Watts, James Wilkes and Christodoulos Makris, Todd Swift and Paul Perry, Marek Kazmierski and Stephen Watts, and others. Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA. Free.

Saturday, 16 February, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Seminar on "The Page as an Open Field." 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced poetry workshop, by admission. BlueGate Poets at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Thursday, 7 March, 3-4:15 p.m. Moderator/organizer for "Larkin to Love or Hate: British Poetics in Conversation" with panelists Tim Liardet, Lytton Smith, Zoe Brigley Thompson, and Carol Watts. AWP Annual Convention, Boston. 

Saturday, 23 March, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Seminar on "What Is Experimental Poetry, Anyway?" 1:30- 4 p.m. Advanced poetry workshop, by admission. BlueGate Poets in Swindon, venue TBA. More details can be found here.

Wednesday, 15 May. 6 p.m. for 6:30 start. Long Poem Magazine, issue 9 launch. The Barbican Library, London. Free. 

Sunday, 9 June, 3:15-4:45 p.m. Reading with David Herd and Jeff Hilson. Reading Poetry Festival, Reading. More details TBA. 

Saturday, 22 June, 10:30-4:30. Publishing Your Poetry, a seminar, London. By private arrangement. 

Saturday, 29 June, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. "Introducing Flash Fiction,"  a seminar. 1:30-4 p.m., advanced poetry workshop, by admission. BlueGate Poets, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Thursday, 11 July, 6 p.m. Reading with Anne Berkeley, Claire Crowther, Jenny Lewis, Sue Rose and Tamar Yoseloff. Frome Festival, The Archangel, 1 King Street, Frome. £4.50.

Saturday, 27 July, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. "You and You and You: Poetry and the Second Person," a seminar. 1:30-4 p.m., advanced poetry workshop, by admission. Blue Gate Poets, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Saturday, 21 September. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Seminar. 1:30-4 p.m., advanced poetry workshop, by admission. Blue Gate Poets, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Saturday, 28 September, 3 p.m. Reading with Rhian Gallagher and Caroline Gilfillan. King's Lynn Poetry Festival, The Town Hall, King's Lynn. £8.50 or £37.50 for the entire weekend of events.

Friday, 4 October. 12:30-1:15 p.m. "Bath Poetry Lunch with Carrie Etter and Friends." Swindon Poetry Festival, Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon. More details TBA. Free!

Saturday, 12 October, 4:15-5:30 p.m. Infinite Difference reading with fellow poets Sophie Mayer, Frances Presley, Anna Reckin and Lucy Sheerman, as part of the Contemporary Experimental Women's Writing Conference at the University of Manchester. Open to conference attendees only.

Saturday, 19 October. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Killing Your Darlings: Learning When and How to Revise Your Poems; 1:30-4 p.m., advanced poetry workshop, by admission. Blue Gate Poets, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here.

Monday, 28 October. Ambit launch party, Notre Dame University, London. By invitation only.

Saturday, 23 November. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. individual tutorials; 1:30-4 p.m., advanced poetry workshop, by admission. Blue Gate Poets, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. More details can be found here. 

Thursday, 5 December, 8 p.m. Pamphlet launch with Tim Liardet as part of Bath Spa University's Stand Up Poetry Reading Series.  Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath. Free!



2012

29 February-3 March. AWP Annual Conference, Chicago. I'll be on a panel and manning the Bath Spa University booth for a couple hours each day.

Wednesday, 29 February, 6-7:30 p.m. Parlor Press (Free Verse Editions), Rescue Press, and Shearsman Books authors read. Fellow readers include Rosa Alcalá, Shira Dentz, Jill Magi, and Becka Mara McKay. Hokin Hall, room 109, Columbia College Chicago, 623 S. Wabash, Chicago. Free.

Tuesday, 6 March, 7:30 p.m. Purdue University, Krannert Auditorium, Room 140, West Lafayette, Indiana. Free.

Saturday, 26 May. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., A Short Introduction to Prose Poetry; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Thursday, 31 May, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Uncut Poets, Exeter Phoenix, Brandninch Place, Gandy Street, Exeter, EX4 3LS.

Wednesday, 13 June, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Frome Poetry Cafe, The Garden Cafe, Frome. Includes an open mic. £2.

Thursday, 14 June, 7:30 p.m. Poetry Cafe, The Flying Goose, Nottingham. 

Saturday, 23 June. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Titling Your Poems; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Saturday, 21 July. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Ending Your Poems; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Saturday, 15 September, 10 a.m-1 p.m. Publishing Your Poetry workshop; 2-3 p.m. reading. Ucheldre Arts Centre, Holyhead.

Saturday, 22 September. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Publishing Your Poetry, Part 1: Analyzing Magazines; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Saturday, 27 October. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Publishing Your Poetry, Part 2: Recordkeeping, Pamphlets and Books; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Friday, 9-Sunday, 11 November. NAWE Conference, York. I'll be presenting on a panel on Sunday morning.

Saturday, 24 November. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tilting the Poem: New Approaches to Common Themes; 1:30-4 p.m. Advanced Poetry Workshop, Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon. For further details, contact Hilda Sheehan at hildasheehan at gmail dot com.

Tuesday, 4 December, 6:30 p.m. for 7 p.m. start. Society for Young Publishers fundraising reading with Lucy Ayrton and Kate Clanchy. Arts at the Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford. Free for members of the Society for Young Publishers, £4 nonmembers, £3.50 students.

Tuesday, 11 December, 7:30 p.m. Reading and conversation with Robert Walton. Cardiff Literary Salon. Sherman Cymru, Senghennyd Road, Cardiff CF24 4YE. Free. 

2011

Saturday, 29 January 2011, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Young Writers' Squad, The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea.

2-5 February 2011. Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference,Washington D.C. On Friday, 4 February, from 1:30-2:45 p.m. in the Harding Room of the Marriott Wardman Park, I'll speak on the panel, "Separated by a Common Language: Teaching on the Other Side of the Pond," with Kathy Flann, Philip Hartigan, Steve May, Patricia Ann McNair, and Mimi Thebo. On Saturday, 5 February, 10:30-11:45 a.m. in the Empire Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel, I'll be presenting on a panel I organised, "The Poetry-Prose Dynamic, Internationally", with Jill Bialosky, Toi Derricotte, Tim Liardet, and Molly Peacock.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011, 7:30 p.m. Launch of Divining for Starters!Shearsman Reading Series, Swedenborg Hall, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London.

Saturday, 19 February 2011, 1-4 p.m. Seminar on Barbara Guest, Bath. A private seminar on the work of 20th-century American poet Barbara Guest, limited to a maximum of eight participants.

Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 7 p.m. Infinite Difference reading at theUniversity of East Anglia, Drama Studio, Norwich, with Anne Blonstein, Rachel Lehrman, Wendy Mulford, Frances Presley, Anna Reckin, and Lucy Sheerman. Free.

Friday, 25 February 2011. Jazz Poetry Feast with the Peter King Quartet and fellow readers Lorraine Mariner, Richard Douglas Pennant and Ross Sutherland, Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho, London. Doors open 7.30 p.m., show starts at 9. £20.

Wednesday, 9 March 2011. Women's Poetry Hour at Bath Central Library in honour of International Women's Day with myself, Dikra Ridha, Linda Saunders, and Ruth Sharman. Introduced by Nikki Bennett and sponsored by Bath Spa University. Upstairs at The Podium, Bath. Free.

Friday, 11 March 2011. Women's Poetry Hour at the Michael Tippett Centre in honour of International Women's Day with Daisy Behagg, Nikki Bennett, Zoe Howarth, Dikra Ridha, Mimi Thebo. Introduced by yours truly and sponsored by Bath Spa University. Michael Tippett Centre foyer, Bath Spa University Newton Park Campus, Newton St Loe, Bath. Free.

Tuesday, 15 March, 8 p.m. Bath launch of Divining for Starters, Topping & Co. Booksellers, The Paragon, Bath BA1 5LS, (01225) 428 111. Introduction by Claire Crowther. £6 on the night/5 in advance with £6/5 off the book. Special £3 rate for Bath Spa University students and Topping's newsletter subscribers.

Saturday, 19 March, 2:15-3:15 p.m. StAnza Poetry Festival, Past & Present talks on poets. I'll speak on Barbara Guest, while Helena Nelson talks about Ruth Pitter. Council Chamber, The Town Hall, Queens' Gardens, St Andrews, Scotland. £3, £2 concs.

Sunday, 20 March, 11:30 a.m.-12: 30 p.m. StAnza Poetry Festival reading with Italian poet Antonella Adedda, Supper Room, The Town Hall, Queens Gardens, St Andrews, Scotland. £3, £2 concs.

Wednesday, 6 April 2011, 7 p.m. The Other Room reading series with Ken Edwards, Alec Finlay, and, by live stream, Derek Henderson, The Old Abbey Inn, 61 Pencroft Way, Manchester M15 6AY. Free admission.

Monday, 16 May, 8-10 p.m. Reading with Martyn Crucefix, Eve Grubin, Jennifer Martin, Geraldine Paine, Jacqueline Saphra, Roisin Tierney, and Robert Vas Dias,Coffee-House Poetry, The Troubadour, 263-267 Old Brompton Road, London. £7, £6 concs.

Monday, 23 May [note date change from the 24th and time change from 7], 8 p.m. CB1 series, The Punter, 3 Pound Hill, Cambridge. £4/£3 concs.

Monday, 30 and Tuesday, 31 May. Poetry and flash fiction workshops for students at The English College in Prague.

Saturday, 4 June, 3 p.m. Poetry Wales reading with Richard Gwyn and Steven Hitchens. Hay Poetry Jamboree, Oriel Contemporary Arts, Salem Chapel, Bell Back, Hay-on-Wye. Free.

Tuesday, 14 June, 6-8 p.m. Reading with John Matthias and Peter Robinson. University of Notre Dame London Centre, 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG. Wine and cheese reception. Free.

Saturday, 23 July, 7:30 p.m. Reading with Richard Douglas Pennant in conjunction with jazz pianist Huw Warren. The Ucheldre Centre, Millbank, Holyhead, Anglesey LL65 1TE.

Saturday, 15 October. Women's Erotic Poetry, Bath. Private day seminar, places limited.

Thursday, 8 December, 7:30 p.m. Bluegate Poets reading series, Arts Centre, Devizes Road, Old Town, Swindon SN1 4BJ. For an open mic slot, email organiser Hilda Sheehan at hsheehan at btinternet dot com. £4, £2 for Bluegate members.

June-December 2010

Thursday, 3 June, 8 p.m., Wurm im Apfel reading series, The Jam Factory Cafe and Studios, 134 James Street, Dublin.

Thursday, 17 June, 7:30 p.m. The Paragon Gallery, 24 Gandy Street, Exeter. £5, £3 concs. Those interested in reading in the open mic should contact organizer Rachel McCarthy at stanza@rachelmccarthy.com.

Thursday, 15 July, 2-3:30 p.m. "Poetry & Gender," Festival of Women's Innovative Poetry and Cross-Genre Work, Greenwich University, King William building, room 315. This panel includes myself, Robert Hampson, Andrea Brady, and Sara Wintz on various issues arising in the work of innovative women poets; I'll be speaking about the rationale forInfinite Difference and briefly discussing its initial reception. This exciting festival will be bring together an array of performances and talks over three days, and the only cost is what you're able to donate; for a full schedule, see Openned 2.

Wednesday, 1 September, 8 p.m. "What Every Woman Would Carry: Women's Poetry Anthologies." The Poetry Library in London will host a panel on women's poetry anthologies, moderated by Jane Dowson and paneled by Carrie Etter, talking about Infinite Difference: Other Poetries by UK Women Poets, and Maura Dooley, editor of Making for Planet Alice: New Women Poets (Bloodaxe, 1997).

Thursday, 16 September, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Visit to Brown University to talk about my anthology Infinite Difference in the context of contemporary British poetries.

Thursday, 16 September, 5-7 p.m. Read/Write series with fellow reader Spring Ulmer, University of Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, 23 September, 7:30-10 p.m. Bradford on Avon Arts Festival Fringe, The Georgian Lodge Hotel, 25 Bridge Street, Bradford on Avon. I'll read with emerging poets James Davey, David Hale, Matthew Haw, and Frances-Anne King. There will be an open mic, too.

Tuesday, 5 October. A workshop with Marlborough College students.

Thursday, 21 October, 7 p.m. Ye Olde Starre Inn, 40 Stonegate, York. Sponsored by York University's student poetry society.

Monday, 1 November, 8 p.m. London Festival Fringe New Poetry Award reading,The Troubadour, 263-267 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JA. Judges and shortlisted poets, including yours truly, read.

Saturday, 6 November. Titles & Conclusions. The Poetry School, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute. A day seminar tackling the difficulties of poems' titles and endings.

Saturday, 13 November. National Association for Writers in Education annual conference, 12-14 November 2010, Cheltenham Park Hotel, Cheltenham. I'll be speaking with Bath Spa colleagues Mimi Thebo and Mike Johnston about the use of creative projects in undergraduate creative writing for enabling students to take writing out of the classroom in wonderfully various ways.

Saturday, 20 November, 10:30-4:30. Titles & Conclusions. The Poetry School, London. A day seminar tackling the difficulties of poems' titles and endings.

Thursday, 25 November, 7:30 p.m. The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea.

Wednesday, 1 December, 7:30 p.m. Pamphlet party: the London launch of pamphlets by Matt Bryden (Night Porter, Templar), Claire Crowther (Mollicle, Nine Arches), and Carrie Etter (Divinations, Punch Press). The Lamb, 94 Lambs Conduit Street, London. Free.

Saturday, 4-Sunday, 5 December, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Art & Poetry Exhibition with visual artists Clare Day and Suki Kalsi and ceramicist Trevor Lillistone, 4 Summerfield Terrace, Bath.

Tuesday, 7 December, 1-2 p.m. Vital Signs reading series, University of Salford,Irwell Campus, Maxwell Building, Room 822. Free and open to the public. I'll also be giving a workshop for undergraduates that afternoon and visiting the MA workshop that evening.