‘STILL EUROPEAN’

I’m always humbled by so many things at my events: the poets’ or authors’ generosity, their depth of knowledge and skill. Few times have I felt more humbled than at this event, held on Zoom on the evening of February 25, when a large audience heard the words of seven poets reading their own works and those of a European poet of their choice.

I would like to quote a comment received from a member of the audience, which puts my thoughts in a much better way than I ever could: “I cannot explain how I feel when I hear pieces where the writer shares a deep experience of a place or of a piece of art, which isn’t directly part of their life, but they have extended their world to encompass it.”

The idea for the event came while perusing the fabulous ‘Poems and Pictures’ Blog, edited by Gill Stoker on the Mary Evans Picture Library website www.maryevans.com. Over 130 poets have been inspired by images held by the Library to write original works, and the Blog shows this pairing. Many images were of European artworks or of other subjects with a European connection – and I decided I wanted to devote a whole evening to Europe in images and verse.

The poets who agreed to participate were also asked to choose a European poet from any period, and to bring one work by them in translation, and if possible in the original. Images and texts were displayed throughout thanks to Gill Stoker’s mastery of Powerpoint (and her patience during the run-up to the event while dealing with a plethora of tweaks).

So, what can I say about this special evening? First a big thank you to Sarah Lawson, Fiona Moore, Gabriel Moreno, John McCullough (unfortunately unwell, but some of his work was read by others), Emma Page, Jacqueline Saphra and Richard Westcott and of course to Gill Stoker. Thanks also to audience member Alex Chronis, who read in Greek for us.

The poets brought us vastly diverse aspects of Europe – many unexpected ones, and many showing the darker heritage that still resonates, or still exists in its heart and at its periphery.

These were complex, profound works with uncomfortable angles. If we expected pretty vistas and nostalgia for the Grand Tour, we were in for a surprise. Even the Piazza della Signoria in Florence had, in Richard Westcott’s hands, a sinister side of murderous persecution of dissenters. We heard, and saw, the proud survivors of abuse in Jacqueline Saphra’s series of ekphrastic poems based on the paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi; the brave demonstrators protesting en masse in Belarus right now in the poems by their compatriots, chosen and read by Fiona Moore together with one of her own poems on the same theme; the grey sky falling on the poet’s head in John McCullough’s poem on Notre Dame (sadly, John was unwell and unable to join us in person) and the almost surreal image of a Polish bodybuilder in John’s choice, a poem by Szymborska; the bloodstained words of Lorca and about Lorca, performed by Gabriel Moreno; the short and tormented life of Therese de Lisieux, the young Carmelite nun brought into poetic focus for us by Emma Page. There were lighter moments, notable among them the guffaws provoked by Sarah Lawson’s clever pun at the end of her short P G Woodehouse spoof: Watteau, Jeeves! And Sarah’s choice of Jacques Prevert in the original and in her own translation; and in Emma Page’s ‘Three Kisses’ celebrating 1960s French cinema. And then one of the great favourites: the universal words of Cavafy’s ‘Ithaca’; and much, much more…

If you were there, feel free to email me your comments about the event at irena(at)in-words.co.uk and I shall post them here (anonymously if you prefer).

And if you wish to find out more about the poets and/or purchase their books and pamphlets, here are some links for you. Thank you!

Events

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11 at West Greenwich Library – 7 for 7.30

‘Poems of Peace (and War)‘ – with Mick Delap, Malene Engelund, Graham High, Lorraine Mariner, Jocelyn Page, Kelley Swain and Sarah Westcott. With Lucia Foti on harp.

It cannot be at 11am, but 7.30 will do… An evening of poetry to celebrate peace (but it’s almost impossible to do so without poems on war). The poets, all belonging to the Nevada Street Poets group based in Greenwich (and thriving despite various departures for other places – Tasmania being the farthest), have designed a programme that includes their own work and that of poets from the canon.

And I’m delighted to welcome back Lucia Foti, who will play a small selection of music on harp. You may remember her wonderful playing in February this year, to accompany readings by Jacqueline Saphra and Sue Rose.

As always, the event is free and everyone is welcome. Books and pamphlets will be on sale, and there will be plenty of refreshments.

Mick Delap Mick Delap is a long time Greenwich resident. He took up writing poetry along the way, publishing his first collection, River Turning Tidal in 2003, and his second, Opening Time in 2016. Mick has never stopped supporting the reading and the writing of poetry in South East London. He gathered the group of poets still at the heart of the Nevada Street Writers in 2009. They still meet regularly.

Malene Engelund is a poet and translator based in Copenhagen. Her pamphlet The Wild Gods was published in 2016 and her translation of the Danish author Christel Wiinblad’s poetry collection My Little Brother was the PBS Spring 2020 translation choice. Her collection Gather is forthcoming with Corsair.Her work will be read by “members of the cast!”

Lucia Foti is a London-based Italian harpist. Supported by Trinity College London and a Trinity Laban Scholarship, she has recently completed her master’s degree with distinction at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is the recipient of prizes in France (2012), Italy (2015) and Britain (2023 and 2024). Lucia freelances with various orchestras and ensembles, performing widely abroad as well as at leading London venues including Kings Place, Cadogan Hall, St John’s Smith Square, St James’s Piccadilly and the Painted Hall in Greenwich.

Graham High has been writing poetry since school days, although his primary career has been as a sculptor and Animatronic Model Designer in the film industry. He has published five poetry collections to date, as well as several chapbooks of poetry and other work. Graham’s other literary involvements have been in editorial and translation work, and as a writer of short stories and movie screenplays (two of which have won awards but, sadly, have not been produced). Through his keen interest in Japanese literature, he became editor of the British Haiku Society Journal, Blithe Spirit, (2005-2008), and to serve as the Society’s president (2011-2014).

Lorraine Mariner lives in Greenwich and works as a librarian at the National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre. She has published two collections with Picador, Furniture (2009) and There Will Be No More Nonsense (2014) and has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize twice, for Best Single Poem and Best First Collection, and for the Seamus Heaney Centre Poetry Prize. Her third collection Little Anchors is due from Picador in Autumn 2026. She has edited several titles for Candlestick Press, including Ten Poems About Friendship (2016) and Ten Poems about Libraries (2024).

Jocelyn Page is a poet from Connecticut, USA, living in London. She teaches English and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College and the University of London, and is Resident Creative Consultant on the ‘Just Poetry’ project at Greenpeace, CJL. Jocelyn’s publications include You’ve Got to Wait Till the Man You Trust Says Go (argent press, 2016) – winner of the Goldsmiths’ Writer Centre’s inaugural Poetry Pamphlet award, and smithereens (tall-lighthouse press, 2010). She is co-chair of the National Association of Writers in Education.

Kelley Swain is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing (poetry) at the University of Tasmania, with an MSc in Medical Humanities from King’s College London. She is the author of poetry collections Darwin’s Microscope, Atlantic, and Opera di Cera, and a contributor to Guests of Time, an anthology written for the first poetry residency at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Poems from the 10th anniversary edition of Darwin’s Microscope were adapted to the song cycle, Endless Forms Most Beautiful. Kelley is also a novelist and contributor to art & health essays and criticism in The Lancet, where she has over 100 publications. Her work will be read by “members of the cast!”

Sarah Westcott is a poet, originally from Devon. She has published three pamphlets and two full collections – Slant Light and Bloom (Pavilion Poetry, Liverpool University Press). Her latest pamphlet is Almanac – hand-stitched and published by Coast to Coast to Coast. Sarah is currently researching and writing inter-species poetry as part of a PhD at the University of Birmingham. She has been working with tadpoles, bats and nightingales to co-create poems that explore the interesting spaces where human and more than human intersect.

‘Chaos, Dragon and the Light’ – January 27 at West Greenwich Library, 7 for 7.30

A poignant documentary film by local Director Sal Anderson. It tells the story of Marika, a Hungarian girl who was forced into hiding from the Nazis during WW2, and forced to flee from the Soviets in 1956 during the Hungarian uprising. Settled in London, she was transformed by her creativity.

A free event to remember and honour all the victims of the Holocaust and of persecution, hatred and discrimination everywhere.