Tiger and Clay – book launch from Istanbul

Last night was a first for in-words, the audience and the wonderful West Greenwich Library and its staff: on a clear skype connection, author Rana Abdulfattah read four extracts form her book of memoir and poetry as her London launch. Her publisher, Camilla Reeve from Palewell Press, co-hosted the event in the central rotunda filled to capacity. There was also a small photographic exhibition by Rayan Azhari and a great meze spread by the Damascus Chef, as well as a presentation by the Chief Executive of the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network.

Rana lives in Istanbul after leaving her native Syria. Her writing is a moving mixture of nostalgia, sorrow, hope and positive determination. The book is available on Amazon and from Palewell Press http://palewellpress.co.uk/Palewell-Publications.html

Central rotunda filling up…. Other photographs from top: listening to Rana; Alaa the techie man smiling at the camera, Camilla the publisher and myself before the start of this amazing evening. At the back, Jane getting the bookstall organised and Abdullah the Damascus Chef setting up the meze spread.

Events

Tuesday September 8 at West Greenwich Library: ‘As it Must’ – poetry with Gale Burns, Golnoosh Nourpanah and Jocelyn Page

Come and join me to hear these three impressive diverse voices. Here’s a bit about them…

Gale Burns has lived in Forest Hill for several decades. He has won two international awards for poetry and his publications include three pamphlets and a collection called Mute House, published by Eyewear. Gale’s work has been translated into several European languages as well as Arabic, and he has been poet in residence at Lewisham Hospital, Sydenham Arts Festival, and Kingston University.  He is one of the founders of the Shuffle Poetry reading series and a member of Poets for the Planet. He will be launching As it Must, his latest collection recently published with Kingston University Press.  www.galeburns.co.uk

Golnoosh Nourpanah is an Iranian-British writer, lecturer, and tarot reader. Golnoosh has a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing and teaches this topic at Birkbeck. She is the author of The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories (2020) and Rocksong (2021). Golnoosh’s poetry pamphlet Impure Thoughts came out with Verve Poetry Press in 2022 and was shortlisted for the Live Canon Pamphlet Competition. She has performed her work at literature festivals and events across the UK and internationally. Her work has also been published by Granta, Vintage, and Columbia Journal. https://www.golnooshnour.com

Jocelyn Page is a poet from Connecticut, USA, living in London. She has published in various journals including The Spectator, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Salzburg, South Carolina Review and Poetry Review. Her debut pamphlet, smithereens, was published in 2010 by tall lighthouse press and in 2016 her You’ve Got to Wait Till the Man You Trust Says Go was the winner of the Goldsmiths’ Writer Centre’s inaugural Poetry Pamphlet award. Jocelyn is the Resident Creative Consultant at Greenpeace International. She teaches English and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College and the University of London Worldwide. http://www.jocelyn-page.com

A free event, all welcome (7 for 7.30). Fully accessible venue. Refreshments (donations welcome) and books on sale.

Next events:

Tuesday October 6: Blake Morrison and Elizabeth Cook

Tuesday November 10: Pindrop Press Poets – Sharon Black, Alex Josephy and Emily Wills