recent readings
click on Online Anthology to read individual poems
Readings are now taking place monthly at Hillcroft Residential College for Women in Surrey.
25th June 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN TERRACE, LONDON W4
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SIMON RODWAY | SUN AND FUN | John Betjeman |
| JILL WHITE | LET ME DIE A YOUNG MAN'S DEATH | Roger McGough |
| LIZZIE SAYCE | THE AULD TROOT | Sandy Thomas Ross |
| SUSIE STANLEY-CARROLL | THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE | W.B. Yeats |
| TONY INWOOD | O HAPPY DOG OF ENGLAND | Stevie Smith |
| JO MARSHALL-COLLINS | THE LETTER | Charlotte Bronte |
| LINDA TAYLOR | BLACKBERRYING | Sylvia Plath |
| KARINE CRABBE | A BLADE OF GRASS | Brian Patten |
| COLIN PARSLEY | A SUBALTERN'S LOVESONG | John Betjeman |
| CATHERINE McCARTHY | O TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE | W.H.Auden |
| JO SANDERS | MEETING POINT | Louis MacNeice |
| DAVID BEDFORD | I AM THE GREAT SUN adapted from A Norman Crucifix | Charles Causley |
| DAWN BRANDL | THE FALCON TO THE FALCONER | Jonathan Steffen |
| PATRICK HARRIGAN | ODE ON THE DEATH OF A FAVOURITE CAT DROWNED IN A TUB OF GOLDFISH | Thomas Gray |
| FATHIEH SAUDI | THE RIVER THAT DIED OF THIRST | Mahmoud Darwish |
| DEREK SHIEL | POSSESSION | John Freeman |
| LUCINDA BARRY | SONNET | Elizabeth Barret Browning |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | A PEASANT | R.S. Thomas |
We were very pleased to welcome seven newcomers to the Chiswick venue this time. Scots, Welsh and
Irish poets were, as always, well and wonderfully represented. Two readers were keen to offer women poets,
and we heard contrasting and memorable poems by Charlotte Bronte and Sylvia Plath. Other readers,
intriguingly, brought excellent poems that few if any listeners had heard before : John Freeman's
Possession , Jonathan Steffen's The Falcon To the Falconer and Charles Causley's I Am The Great Sun .
A very special moment in the evening was provided by our regular reader Fathieh Saudi, who read her
own translation of Mahmoud Darwish's poem The River That Died of Thirst, but not before she had first read it
in Arabic, giving us the opportunity to hear an exceedingly beautiful, if, for most of us, an incomprehensible,
sound experience. Better known poets, such as Thomas Gray, were superbly read, as were lighter offerings by
Brian Patten, Roger McGough, Stevie Smith and John Betjeman, although the seam of darkness running
through Betjeman's humour was evident in both poems, which may explain why he turns up again and again
at PASS ON A POEM readings. The double edged quality is always there in Auden, and it was well caught by
Catherine McCarthy in O Tell Me The Truth About Love. There are always love poems of course. Jo Sanders and
Lucinda Barry read theirs with great poise and feeling. We finished the evening with our magical reciter,
Roger Morsley-Smith, who on this occasion, brilliantly as ever, gave us the intensely personal, stark, piercing
portrait of
the farm labourer, Iago Prytherch. This was to get R.S.Thomas into trouble with his parishioners.
As far as the poet was concerned, it was written out of respect and love, and fellow feeling, all of which we were
able to feel, thanks to Roger. Thanks too, as always, to Jill White, the manager of the Oxfam Bookshop, for all her
help and hospitality, and to William Stadlen, for his tireless compering, both of which made for a great evening.
10th June 2008 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD in BEDFORD
This was the first reading to take place in Bedford. It was organised by Gillian Stafford, who hosted it in
her own home. It was much enjoyed by all and a second reading is planned for Tuesday 29th July.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILLIAN STAFFORD | TARANTELLA | Hilaire Belloc |
| ALISON MYERS | HEIRLOOM | Kathleen Raine |
| CHERYL GARDNER | REFLECTIONS | Neil Gardner |
| LORRAINE COOK | HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN | W.B.Yeats |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | WHEN I'M ALONE | Siegfried Sassoon |
| JENNIE CLARK | SEA FEVER | John Masefield |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | OZYMANDIAS | P.B.Shelley |
| NICOLA DARWOOD | LONG DISTANCE | Tony Harrison |
| ALAN STAFFORD | PORTRAIT POEM | Matt Harvey |
| GILLIAN STAFFORD | AFTER THE LUNCH | Wendy Cope |
| CHERYL GARDNER | TREASURE HUNT | Sherry Asbury |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | THE THOUSANDTH MAN | Rudyard Kipling |
| JENNIE CLARK | WARNING | Jenny Joseph |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD | Robert Browning |
| LORRAINE COOK | IN A BATH TEASHOP | John Betjeman |
14th May 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP 170 PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W 11
Against a background of cyclones, implacable dictatorships, earthquakes and impending economic
collapse, poetry felt especially bracing and enjoyable. The great diversity of the poems chosen and also
of the readers' ages and occupations as well as the palpable sense of enjoyment at the end of the evening
demonstrated how much poetry has to offer - even at the end of a working day in the middle of the week.
Thanks as always to the hospitality and hard work of the Oxfam bookshop manager and volunteers and
to William Stadlen for his inimitable compering of the night.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| LINDA VAUX | HOW TO LEAVE THE WORLD THAT WORSHIPS SHOULD | Ros Barber |
| LINDA TAYLOR | MOUNTAIN LION | D.H.Lawrence |
| JANE DARWIN | from PORTRAIT OF A LADY | T.SEliot |
| ROBINA ROSE | DO NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT | Dylan Thomas |
| EDWARD CAIN | WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS | C.P.Cavafy |
| ANNIE HENRY | SPRING | G.M.Hopkins |
| ANDREA LOWE | WITH A GIFT OF RINGS | Robert Graves |
| LUCY ROEBER | FRAGMENT 31 | Sappho |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | from HENRY IV PART II | William Shakespeare |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | SOLILOQUY OF THE SPANISH CLOISTER | Robert Browning |
| MIYUKI SMITH KHANNA | UNTITLED | Sara Teasdale |
| KATHY PHILPOT | ALL THESE I LEARNT | Robert Byron |
| PETER HOWELL | PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH | Louis MacNeice |
| SWEETIE CHOWDHURY | THE WALK | Thomas Hardy |
| JOHN HENRY | AMBER | Eavan Boland |
| ADRIENNE JACK | THE BELLS | Edgar Allan Poe |
| AISLING O'NEILL | HAVING A COKE WITH YOU | Frank O'Hara |
| BRIAN LOONEY | ROMANCE | Walter.J. Turner |
| ANNA PHILPOT | WARMING HER PEARLS | Carol Ann Duffy |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | THE SEED | Hal Summers |
29th April 2008 HILLCROFT COLLEGE, SURBITON, SURREY
The enthusiasm for poetry reading continues unabated at Hillcroft adult education college. Two new
readers were welcomed to the group of staff and student readers. This month, as usual, there were
plenty of humorous poems, and also a most memorable recitation of two Housman poems by one of the
older students who is in her 70s.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SANDY PHILPOTS | O DEAR WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE | Victoria Wood |
| MAISIE McLEAN | PLEASE MRS BUTLER | Allan Ahlberg |
| JAHNICE MARSHALL | HALF CASTE | John Agard |
| EILEEN BRUNST | DELECTABLE DUCHY | John Betjeman |
| FIONA MACDONALD | WATER | Robert Lowell |
| ELAINE LEWIS | THIS OLD CAT | K.C.Bigamon |
| CHRISTINE GRANT | HOME THOUGHTS, FROM ABROAD | Robert Browning |
| SHEILA MAGEE | THE GREAT BATH DISASTER | Peter Wyllie |
| MARGARET BURLISON | LOVELIEST OF TREES | A.E.Housman |
| NIAMH DONNELLY | HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PRESS | Wendy Cope |
| LINDA TAYLOR | MORT AUX CHATS | Peter Porter |
| CAROLINE O'DONOVAN | YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL | Simon Armitage |
| FRANCES STADLEN | AN ABSOLUTELY ORDINARY RAINBOW | Les Murray |
| NOLEEN WYATT-JONES | THE ONLY CONFIRMED CAST MEMBER IS OOK | Jane Yeh |
18th March 2008 HILLCROFT COLLEGE, SURBITON, SURREY
Linda Taylor introduced the fourth reading at the college where both staff and students of the
residential
adult education college meet monthly to read poetry together under the warm and
encouraging
wing of Noleen Wyatt-Jones. A fuller review will appear shortly.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| ELENA DANIELS | THE HOUSEWIFE PLANT | Julia Holt/June Mann/Karen Beggs |
| FRANCES ALLPRESS | THE END OF THE RAVEN | Poe's Cat |
| MAUREEN DWYER | MINE | Maurice Navarro |
| KRISTINA CARVEY | CONFUSED AND FRUSTRATED WITH YOU | Dennis Justin Fontaine |
| YVONNE LESTER | ONE ART | Elizabeth Bishop |
| CHANTAL PEART | MY PROSE PIECE | Yvonne Lester |
| SANDY PHILPOTTS | SWEET THAMES FLOW SOFTLY | Ewan McColl |
| NIAMH DONNELLY | TO HIS COY MISTRESS | Andrew Marvell |
| DEIRDRE KENNEDY | RENDEZVOUS | Alan Seeger |
| MARY BARHAM | 'TWAS THE DAY BEFORE EASTER | John Paul |
| SHELIA MAGEE | CHARTING THE WATERS 1 | Elly Nyland |
| CHRISTINE GRANT | THE STONE BEACH | Simon Armitage |
| SOFIA GHAFOOR | THIS MORNING | Raymond Carver |
| LINDA TAYLOR | DIVING INTO THE WRECK | Adrienne Rich |
| KATIA FERRETTI | HEALTH HAZARD | Heather Beale |
| FRANCES STADLEN | THE LEAVING | Brigit Pegeen Kelly |
| CAROLINE O'DONOVAN | THE NAMING OF CATS | T.S.Eliot |
| NOLEEN WYATT-JONES | IT AIN'T WHAT YOU DO, IT'S WHAT IT DOES TO YOU | Simon Armitage |
6th March 2008 AT A READER'S HOUSE IN BATH, SOMERSET
This well attended first reading in Bath was generously hosted by journalist Bel Mooney and her husband,
photographer Robin Allison-Smith. The event was brilliantly organised by Tessa Strickland, founder and
publisher of Barefoot Books for children, whose UK offices are in Bath. An air of slight uncertainty quickly
gave way to one of conviviality and pleasure as soon as Bel Mooney started, to most people's astonishment,
to recite Yeats, a poet clearly very close to her heart. William Bealby-Wright then more than justified
his desire to offer us the 'unfashionable' Manx poet T.E.Brown with his spirited rendering of Christmas
Rose. Diana Jeater was the first of many readers to make everyone laugh with her choice of Ode To My
Daughter's Plimsolls. Gerard Kilroy
brought to life a distinguished local 16thcentury figure, Sir John Harington,
who managed both to translate Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and to invent the water closet, by reading two of
of his epigrams.Wayne Hill amused everybody greatly with Kenneth Koch's witty One Train May Hide Another.
Jackie Morris, referring to the recent eclipse, read the short and moving What If there Were No Moon?
by the scientist-poet Rebecca Elson, who died recently and
so young. Richard Ward offered another short,
equally powerful poem by the unendingly angry R.S.Thomas.
Charles Hayward bravely attempted, and
pulled off beautifully, Hopkins' Windhover. Two American poets followed. Frances Stadlen chose Charles
Wright's The Pilgrim's Progress and Tessa Strickland read Mary Oliver's Wild Geese with great poise and
feeling. Robin Allison-Smith claimed the prize for reading the shortest poem with Raymond Carver's
Late Fragment, but it packs such a punch that the quantity/quality debate remained unresolved.
Susan Bealby-Wright returned us to the swing and song of
poetry with Zip-A-Dee, as befitted someone
who had spent evenings in her youth providing musical accompaniment to poets reading in pubs.
Everyone enjoyed another take on a mother's accomodation to her daughter, this time a five year old, by
Fleur Adcock, chosen by Fifi Charrington. Finally, Jay Ramsay sent us out into the night inspiredby his
inspired reading of one of Stephen Spender's best poems, I Think Continuously Of Those Who Are Truly Great.
It was a wonderful evening of poetry.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| BEL MOONEY | A LAST CONFESSION | W.B.Yeats |
| WILLIAM BEALBY-WRIGHT | CHRISTMAS ROSE | T.E.Brown |
| DIANA JEATER | ODE TO MY DAUGHTER'S PLIMSOLLS & THE MESS IN HER ROOM | Caroline Halliday |
| GERARD KILROY | POEM | Sir John Harington |
| HELEN MOORE | BETWEEN THE MATERIAL WORLD AND THE WORLD OF FEELING | Jane Hirschfield |
| WAYNE HILL | ONE TRAIN MAY HIDE ANOTHER | Kenneth Koch |
| JACKIE MORRIS | WHAT IF THERE WERE NO MOON? | Rebecca Elson |
| RICHARD WARD | THE COUNTRY CLERGY | R.S.Thomas |
| CHARLES HAYWARD | THE WINDHOVER | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| FRANCES STADLEN | PILGRIM'S PROGRESS | Charles Wright |
| ROBIN ALLISON-SMITH | LATE FRAGMENT | Raymond Carver |
| TESSA STRICKLAND | WILD GEESE | Mary Oliver |
| TOM CHARRINGTON | THE LOCH NESS MONSTER'S SONG | Edwin Morgan |
| SUSAN BEALBY-WRIGHT | ZIP-A-DEE | Anon |
| FIFI CHARRINGTON | TO A FIVE YEAR OLD | Fleur Adcock |
| JAY RAMSAY | I THINK CONTINUOUSLY OF THOSE WHO ARE TRULY GREAT | Stephen Spender |
28th February 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN TERRACE, LONDON W4
The hospitality of Jill White, the Oxfam bookshop manager, and the relaxing, inviting manner of Will Stadlen, our regular compere, meant that there was no ice to be broken among the gathering of 40 plus at the reading. Had there been, Colin Parsley’s choice of one of the most delightfully eccentric poems in the language to open the evening – Simon Armitage’s homicide story Gooseberry Season – was perfect. To hear Robert Frost’s ruminative Birches read in Adrienne Jack’s conversational transatlantic accent was ideal. It was good to have Frost’s famous line “earth’s the right place for love” set in its full context.
With the exception of Simon Rodway’s robustly celebratory reading of Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud, Tony Inwood’s grateful and gracious My Garden by Thomas Edward Brown, Anna Philpot’s gloriously lip-smacking, thigh-whacking Moules A La Mariniere by Elizabeth Garrett, and Jo Marshall Collins’ amusing version of T.S. Eliot’s Naming of Cats, the three pillars of the evening were nostalgia, recollection and elegy.
Helen Poskitt, Polly McAndrew and Katie Tantum chose and did full justice to poems they knew and treasured from childhood: The Land of Counterpane by R.L.Stevenson, Adlestrop by Edward Thomas and If by Rudyard Kipling respectively. Mike Morris introduced the theme of premature death that so haunted A.E.Housman with his thoughtful reading from A Shropshire Lad. We descended to the “hell where youth and laughter go” with Karen Lewis Attenborough’s appropriately stark delivery of Siegfried Sassoon’s Suicide In The Trenches.
There were three short elegies. Noleen Wyatt–Jones chose Raymond Carver’s widow Tess Gallagher’s Black Silk, drawing out its understated, sisterly compassion. Annie Henry explained the peaceful closure that Edwin Morgan’s intense and lovely The Glass had brought her in bereavement. Catherine Howarth read, with great poise, Norman MacCaig’s In Praise Of A Man, demonstrating how poetry serves us at the shifting margin between the private and the civic which death and grief demand we accomodate.
Melancholy was prevented from taking a complete hold by two particularly high spirited readers whose poems were not about what Yeats in the final poem of the evening called “that discourtesy of death”. Returning to the subject of love, Lucy Barry took us out of the world of Robert Frost and North America to that of Pablo Neruda and South America with I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You. She gave it her passionate all, convincing us that love too is made of fire and ice - as well as the end of the world predicted by Frost in a poem of that name. Susie Stanley-Carroll amazed everybody by plunging headlong into West Country dialect with her vivid, forceful version of Hardy’s The Ruined Maid, demonstrating how tellingly the novelist’s narrative skill and psychological insight penetrates the poetry.
Patrick Harrigan, in a quiet, authoritative voice, gave an unforgettable reading of Elizabeth Bishop’s incomparable and profound cinematic journey poem The Moose, whose lines ‘Why, why do we feel /(we all feel) this sweet/sensation of joy? . . ” could perhaps also be asked to stand for the pleasure of an evening spent listening to poetry read aloud. To end with, Roger Morsley Smith, reciting in his mesmerising, extraordinarily talented manner, revealed the complex, charged interior of Yeats’ In Memory of Major Robert Gregory, the young artist friend of the poet’s shot down in the First World War. London is lucky to have these free simple straightforward events where ordinary people give of themselves like this.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| COLIN PARSLEY | GOOSEBERRY SEASON | Simon Armitage |
| ADRIENNE JACK | BIRCHES | Robert Frost |
| SIMON RODWAY | I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD | William Wordsworth |
| HELEN POSKITT | THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE | R.L.Stevenson |
| SUSAN STANLEY-CARROLL | THE RUINED MAID | Thomas Hardy |
| TONY INWOOD | MY GARDEN | Thomas Edward Brown |
| POLLY McANDREW | ADLESTROP | Edward Thomas |
| ANNIE HENRY | THE GLASS | Edwin Morgan |
| KATIE TANTUM | IF | Rudyard Kipling |
| PATRICK HARRIGAN | THE MOOSE | Elizabeth Bishop |
| MIKE MORRIS | from A SHROPSHIRE LAD | A.E.Housman |
| ANNA PHILPOT | MOULES A LA MARINIERE | Elizabeth Garrett |
| CATHERINE HOWARTH | PRAISE OF A MAN | Norman MacCaig |
| LUCINDA BARRY | I DO NOT LOVE YOU EXCEPT BECAUSE I LOVE YOU | Pablo Neruda |
| JO MARSHALL COLLINS | THE NAMING OF CATS | T.S.Eliot |
| NOLEEN WYATT-JONES | BLACK SILK | Tess Gallagher |
| KAREN LEWIS ATTENBOROUGH | SUICIDE IN THE TRENCHES | Siegfried Sassoon |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | IN MEMORY OF MAJOR ROBERT GREGORY | W.B.Yeats |
21st February 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, PORTOBELLO ROAD, LONDON W11
People as young as 14 and as old as 90 come to the readings - all for the love of poetry. William Stadlen, our superb and loyal compere, welcomed a gathering of nearly 50 people and introduced 19 readers. The variety was, as always, extraordinary. The poems ranged from The Fox’s Prophecy, an anonymous 19th c. ballad read by amused former Labour MP Michael Barnes which predicts the banning of foxhunting, the demise of hedgerows and the axing of hereditary peers.
Carol Ann Duffy’s razor sharp Mrs Faust was wittily performed with the lightest touch by Aisling O’Neill. Usman Sheikh discovered Dolores Gauntlett’s delightful A Song for My Father in Carcanet’s recent New Caribbean Poetry: An Anthology. This was complemented by Norman MacCaig’s wonderful portrait My Aunt Julia, a favourite of fellow lawyer Fred Hobson’s. Susannah Tarbush’s choice of Charles Causley’s Eden Rock, a tender, painterly piece about his parents, made up a trilogy of poems honouring the older generation. Tenderness was also the theme of Don Paterson’s Waking with Russell, which Annie Henry, commenting how unusual it is to find a poem about a father and his baby, read with great sensitivity. Miyuki Mimiaki chose a very short but touching anonymous poem on friendship.
Sarah Anderson, founder of the Travel Bookshop, and author of the forthcoming autobiographical Halfway to Venus A One-Armed Journey (Umbrella Books), extended the horizon with her magnificently clear rendering of Shelley’s Ozymandias. Linda Taylor offered Auden’s Their Lonely Betters, and read it so simply and beautifully that nobody could fail to appreciate its quality. Brian Looney’s sophisticated, hilarious and visceral reading was surely one of the best ever heard anywhere of The Flea, perhaps the wittiest and most outrageous of Donne’s seduction poems. Anne Barnes, who many years ago used to teach Paradise Lost at Holland Park Comprehensive, brought that - to some – fearsome classic to life with lucid and reassuring comparisons to modern soap operas before delivering the poignant lines describing the awkward moments after the expulsion. Nick Hobson made sure the Romantics were represented with his favourite section of Keats’ mournful Endymion.
Chrissie Kounoupa happily combined a dreamlike with a rousing mood in her reading of Ithaka by fellow countryman C.P.Cavafy. The actor Peter Howell gave a superb, eye-opening performance of T.S.Eliot’s The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, revealing the depths of its irony, melancholy and musicality.
Frances Stadlen, stepping in for an indisposed reader, was eager to try out the short and devastating Pilgrim’s Progress by the contemporary American poet, Charles Wright. Alisha Giorgetti, a Texan living in Notting Hill, contributed a dramatic and sobering note to the evening. Aided by photographs (in and also out of uniform) of her young brother, a serving U.S. Marine, she read the anonymous The Final Inspection. She wished, she explained, to honour her brother, and to remind all present that there are vulnerable human beings inside the combat fatigues. America was also represented by one of its greatest poets, Walt Whitman. Derek Shiel, who has recently made a documentary film about the English painter-poet David Jones, did full justice to a section of Song of The Open Road from Leaves of Grass, handling the expansive long line of the first exponent of free verse with exemplary skill. Robina Rose brought the evening to a close with a beguiling prose description of the lunar eclipse of the previous night, and then read a haunting poem by Arseniy Tarkovsky, the father of the late great film director, entitled Now Summer is Gone with its disturbing refrain ‘there must be more’.
Thanks as always to Oxfam for hosting the evening, and in particular to the manager Jackie and the volunteers for their hospitality and for giving their time to prepare the space and return it to normality afterwards.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| LINDA TAYLOR | THEIR LONELY BETTERS | W.H.Auden |
| ZAKIA SHAMIM CHOWDHURY | from THE RAVEN | Edgar Allan Poe |
| ALISHA GIORGETTI | THE LAST INSPECTION | Anon |
| ANNIE HENRY | WAKING WITH RUSSELL | Don Paterson |
| FRED HOBSON | MY AUNT JULIA | Norman MacCaig |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | EDEN ROCK | Charles Causley |
| USMAN SHEIKH | A SONG FOR MY FATHER | Dolores Gauntlett |
| AISLING O'NEILL | MRS FAUST | Carol Ann Duffy |
| MIYUKI MIMIAKI | MY HEART'S FRIEND | Anon |
| MICHAEL BARNES | THE FOX'S PROPHECY | Anon |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE FLEA | John Donne |
| CHRISSIE KOUNOUPA | ITHAKA | C.P.Cafavy |
| PETER HOWELL | THE LOVE SONG OF J.ALFRED PRUFROCK | T.S.Eliot |
| ROBINA ROSE | NOW SUMMER IS GONE | Arseniy Tarkovsky |
| NICK HOBSON | from ENDYMION | John Keats |
| ANNE BARNES | from PARADISE LOST | John Milton |
| FRANCES STADLEN | PILGRIM'S PROGRESS | Charles Wright |
| SARAH ANDERSON | OZYMANDIAS | P.B.Shelley |
| DEREK SHIEL | from SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD | Walt Whitman |
5th December 2007 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN TERRACE, LONDON W4
The first reading at this new venue was packed, with would-be readers having to be turned away right
up to the day of the reading. The evening was graced by the presence of an extremely eloquent reader
of 90, who related that when her mother read The Lady of Shalott to her in her childhood, tears would
stream from her eyes. Three readers had met their poets in person, and every reader's short explanation
of the personal significance of their poem to them added something of real interest. As always, there was
tremendous variety in the poems chosen, some passionate readings, and a startlingly convincing link
made between Hopkins' urgent, beautiful poem The Sea and the Skylark and the current crisis of climate
change. Thanks to Jillian, the bookshop manager, for all her work and her warm welcome in preparing
and hosting this first reading, to the volunteers for helping to set up and clear up, and also to William
for compering another London series.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| KATHY PHILPOT | POETRY | Pablo Neruda |
| ADRIENNE JACK | LAST THINGS | Nick Drake |
| MATT SULLIVAN | CLANCY OF THE OVERFLOW | Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson |
| HAZEL MORRIS | WARNING | Jenny Joseph |
| ROGER-MORSLEY SMITH | ABSENT FRIENDS | W.J.Duff |
| ANNA PHILPOT | JABBERWOCKY | Lewis Carroll |
| SU LYCETT | NOT YET MY MOTHER | Owen Sheers |
| COLIN PARSLEY | HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN | W.B.Yeats |
| JUDITH FORREST | MINI-SAGAS | Roger Woddis, Frank Purcell |
| SANDY WALFORD | from THE LADY OF SHALOTT | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| JEFFREY FORREST | A 14 YEAR OLD CONVALESCENT CAT IN WINTER | Gavin Ewart |
| CATHERINE SULLIVAN | THE NEW REGIME | Wendy Cope |
| LINDA TAYLOR | HOUR | Carol Ann Duffy |
| AMANDA GABBITAS | THE SEA AT DUN LAOGHAIRE | Sheila O'Hagan |
| KAMEEL KHAN | TO NORLINE | Derek Walcott |
| JO MARSHALL-COLLINS | TO SEE THE RABBIT | Alan Brownjohn |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | from THE AENEID | Virgil |
| DEREK SHIEL | THE SEA AND THE SKYLARK | G.M.Hopkins |
| KATY PHILLIPS | ANOTHER WESTMINSTER BRIDGE | Alice Oswald |
14th November 2007 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, PORTOBELLO ROAD, LONDON W11
The bookshop was filled to capacity. The reading was dedicated to the memory of Mary Rose, a much
loved local resident, who had attended the July reading, and whose family connections with the area
go back to 1935. By chance, there were several beautifully read poems on the theme of death, and one
on birth; short witty poems, as well as ballads and humorous poems in true Scots and Irish accents.
Blake's The Tyger received a wonderfully fresh interpretation. Many will have heard the work of the
Palestinian poet
Mahmoud Darwish's work for the first time, and as a revelation, thanks to a passionate
reading. Donne's The Sun Rising was lightly but meticulously introduced to an appreciative audience.
A very special atmosphere was created by how much everyone put into their readings. Thanks once
again to William Stadlen for his compering, to Oxfam, and its bookshop's hospitable manager, Jackie
Date, and her volunteers, for hosting the reading.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| ROBINA ROSE | THE LIFE THAT I HAVE | Leo Marks |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | NOTHING IS LOST | Anne Ridler |
| RONA PASSMORE | THE SHOOTING OF DAN McGREW | Robert Service |
| MAGGIE WOONTON | A BLADE OF GRASS | Brian Patten |
| MICHAEL BARNES | THE HORSES | Edwin Muir |
| JANE FEATHERSTONE | WHAT IS HE | D.H.Lawrence |
| JON DAVIES | WINTER SUN | Nicholas Hinchliffe |
| JULIA KING | HOW POEMS ARE MADE/A DISCREDITED VIEW | Alice Walker |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | RAYMOND OF THE ROOFTOPS | Paul Durcan |
| LUCINDA BARRY | RULES AND REGULATIONS | C.S.Lewis |
| DANIEL ESHUN | THE TYGER | William Blake |
| LINDA TAYLOR | WILL'S | John Stammers |
| TESSA STRICKLAND | NEW CHILD | George Mackay Brown |
| FATHIEH SAUDI | from UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS PARADISE | Mahmoud Darwish |
| ANNE BARNES | MORNING BE SALVE TO YOU | Grace Ingoldby |
| JANE DARWIN | THE SUN RISING | John Donne |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE CONFIRMATION | Edwin Muir |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | from THE TEMPEST | William Shakespeare |
| WILL WAREING | from STRUWWELPETER | Heinrich Hoffmann |
18th July 2007 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP 170 PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON w11
This was the first community reading at this venue, warmly hosted by Jackie Date, the bookshop
manager,
and compered with his usual light touch by William Stadlen. As always, there was a
extraordinary and satisfying combination of very different poems and poets, and over 50 people
gathered in the bookshop to enjoy them.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SUSAN WOLFE | LONDON PRIDE | Noel Coward |
| JANE WHITWORTH | BUSINESS GIRLS | John Betjeman |
| JOHN HENRY | from BEFORE THE MIRROR | A.C.Swinburne |
| SU LYCETT | YOU DREW BREATH | Greta Stoddart |
| LOUISA PETO | THE RING from THE MARRIAGE OF PSYCHE | Kathleen Raine |
| DENISE COREANA | THE INVITATION | Oriah Mountain Dreaming |
| ANTHONY PETER | THE DEAD SWAGMAN | Nancy Cato |
| ANDREA LOWE | BLOODY ORKNEY | Captain Hamish Blair |
| ANNIE HENRY | ELEGY | Carol Ann Duffy |
| ROBINA ROSE | from THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL | Oscar Wilde |
| JACKIE DATE | NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY | Robert Frost |
| JON DAVIES | JESUS CHRIST | John Hegley |
| SANDY SOLOMON | THE PEOPLE OF THE OTHER VILLAGE | Thomas Lux |
| ANNETTE MORREAU | FOUNDLING | Sandy Solomon |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | SO THROUGH THAT UNRIPE DAY YOU BORE YOUR HEAD | Philip Larkin |
| LINDA TAYLOR | PASSED ON | Carole Satyamurti |
| JOANNA WILES | FANFARE FOR THE MAKERS | Louis MacNeice |
| MICHAEL SEYMOUR | SLOW DANCE | Anonymous, A Young Girl |
23 May 2007 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP 170 PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W 11
At this packed out, free celebrity event to launch our new association with Oxfam bookshops
(selected branches of which will, from now on, host many of our readings), a galaxy of eminent
people were generous enough to join us to create an unforgettable evening, reading or reciting their
favourite poems. Other readers included a director of Oxfam, Oxfam's poet in residence, and three of
the West London group's regular readers. Poetry lovers raised £650 in one night for the Darfur appeal.
Sandra Howard, the novelist, columnist and former model, opened the evening, wishing us well with
supportive and encouraging words. read more
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| MARIELLA FROSTRUP | THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT | Edward Lear |
| DAVID McCULLOUGH | WELSH LANDSCAPE | R.S.Thomas |
| MATTHEW d'ANCONA | THE DAY HE DIED | Ted Hughes |
| JANE DARWIN | SEPTEMBER 1913 | W.B.Yeats |
| HARRY EYRES | THE RIVER MERCHANT'S WIFE | trans Ezra Pound from Rihaku |
| P.D.JAMES | DOVER BEACH | Matthew Arnold |
| TODD SWIFT | PORTRAIT OF THE POET AS LANDSCAPE | A.M.Klein |
| CRAIG RAINE | A GREYHOUND THE EVENING AFTER A LONG DAY OF RAIN | Alice Oswald |
| RACHEL JOHNSTON | EPITAPH ON A TYRANT | W.H.Auden |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE NAMING OF PARTS | Henry Read |
| JOAN BAKEWELL | REFUGEE BLUES | W.H.Auden |
| RICHARD DAWKINS | THE SNAKE | D.H.Lawrence |
| FIONA SHAW | from NARCISSUS AND ECHO and from THE WASTELAND | Ovid trans. Ted Hughes. And T.S.Eliot |
| ALEX JAMES | IT'S A HIRE CAR BABY | John Cooper Clarke |
| SALLEY VICKERS | TEENAGE DAUGHTER | Mary Connell |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | COLD IRON | Rudyard Kipling |
| JON SNOW | THE CURE AT TROY | Seamus Heaney |
25 April 2007 THE LAZY DAISY CAFE 59a PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W 11
19 readers read English, Irish and American poems and a notable translation of Rilke by Scottish poet
Don Paterson.Several other translations were offered from Portuguese, Arabic and German.There was
the usual wonderful mixture of tone and style and subject.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| ANNIE HENRY | A LAST CONFESSION | W.B.Yeats |
| VAL ARNOLD-FORSTER | HE WILL WATCH THE HAWK | Stephen Spender |
| MICKY BARNES | from ULYSSES | Alfred,Lord Tennyson |
| JAMES HOWARTH | THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF AISHA | Abdelwahhab Al-Bayyati |
| KATE STURDY | THE WIND | Ted Hughes |
| LUCY ROEBER | from SONG OF MYSELF | Walt Whitman |
| SUSAN WOLFE | IT'S RAINING IN LOVE | Richard Brautigan |
| JORGE JESUS | LIBERTY | Ferdinando Pessoa |
| NICK STADLEN | THE MISTAKE | James Fenton |
| HANNAH BLUSTIN | WHAT THE LITTLE GIRL DID | Roger McGough |
| CHERYL MARKOVSKY | THE FAT BLACK WOMAN GOES SHOPPING | Grace Nichols |
| LINDSAY MACKIE | THE STREAM from SONNETS TO ORPHEUS | Rainer Maria Rilke translated by Don Paterson |
| ROBINA ROSE | from THE BOOK OF REVELATION | The Bible, King James Version |
| WILL WAREING | ATLAS | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| ANNA PHILPOT | BADLY-CHOSEN LOVER | Rosemary Tonks |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | COLD IRON | Rudyard Kipling |
| JANE DARWIN | STARLIGHT NIGHT | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| LINDA TAYLOR | WHEN THE OTHERS WERE AWAY AT MASS | Seamus Heaney |
| BRIAN LOONEY | IN MEMORY OF EVA GORE-BOOTH AND CON MARKIEWICZ | W.B.Yeats |
10 January 2007 THE LAZY DAISY CAFE 59a PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W 11
20 readers, introduced by our regular and much appreciated compere, William Stadlen, gave moving,
funny and magnificent readings of traditional, modern, serious, tender, light and enigmatic poems
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| MATTHEW STADLEN | ODE TO THE WEST WIND | Percy Bysshe Shelley |
| PHILIPPA FAWCETT | THE COURTSHIP OF THE YONGHY-BONGHY-BO | Edward Lear |
| JANE FEATHERSTONE | TREBETHERICK | John Betjeman |
| LUCINDA BARRY | THE ETERNITY OF NOW | Dan Pugh |
| JORGE JESUS | DEAR GENTLE SOUL | Luis de Camoes |
| LINDA TAYLOR | DOVER BEACH | Matthew Arnold |
| MURAD SAUD | THE JABBERWOCKY | Lewis Carroll |
| MONICA PETO | WHEN, IN DISGRACE WITH FORTUNE... | William Shakespeare |
| WILL WAREING | from CLOUD BUSTING | Malorie Blackman |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | ABOU BEN ADHEM | Leigh Hunt |
| JONATHAN STADLEN | HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN | W.B.Yeats |
| JULIA HAMILTON | from THE ODYSSEY | Homer |
| TREVOR MOSTYN | A GYPSY MELODY | Mahmud Darwish |
| SUSAN WILSON | EXCELSIOR | R.W.Longfellow |
| ERMANNO RIVETTI | IAM! YET WHAT I AM... | John Clare |
| AISLING O'NEILL | from HOWL | Allen Ginsberg |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE NAMING OF PARTS | Henry Read |
| ANNIE HENRY | SONNET TO MY MOTHER | George Barker |
| JOANNA WILES | ST FRANCIS AND THE SOW | Galway Kinnell |
| JANE DARWIN | JOURNEY OF THE MAGI | T.S.Eliot |
4 October 2006 THE LAZY DAISY CAFE 59a PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W11
19 readers chose a wonderful mixture of lyric, narrative, elegiac, comic, ballad and mythic poems.
The audience was indebted, as ever, to William Stadlen, a true master of ceremonies.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| KATHY PHILPOT | WALKING AWAY (FOR SEAN) | Cecil Day Lewis |
| LUCINDA BARRY | A LUNATIC'S LONDON | Gavin Ewart |
| TREVOR MOSTYN | A MIRROR FOR BEIRUT | Adonis |
| ANNIE HENRY | THE MAD COW TALKS BACK | Jo Shapcott |
| JANE DARWIN | THE GREAT SILKIE OF SULE SKERRIE | anon. Orkney |
| FRANCIS FITZGIBBON | HENRY PURCELL | G.M.Hopkins |
| CHERYL MARKOSKY | MEMORIAM | Anne Michaels |
| LINDY HARRIS | EATING OUT | Joe Dunthorne |
| JORGE JESUS | THAT SAD AND JOYFUL DAWN | Luis Camoes |
| LISE KAY | CORPOREAL LOVE | David Waltner-Toews |
| ANNA PHILPOT | HOT FOOD | Michael Rosen |
| ROBINA ROSE | from INNANA'S JOURNEY TO HELL | Ancient Mesopotamian |
| ALEXI MOSTROUS | THE GARDEN | Ezra Pound |
| BRIAN LOONEY | WHEN I HAVE SEEN BY TIME'S FELL HAND.... | William Shakespeare |
| LUCINDA BARRY | AND YOU, HELEN, | Edward Thomas |
| MELANIE MCFADYEAN | THE SUNNE RISING | John Donne |
| DANIEL WOLF | from REQUIEM | Anna Akhmatova |
| ISABEL MORALES | SONNET OF THE SWEET COMPLAINT | Federico Garcia Lorca |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | THE LADY OF SHALOTT | Alfred Tennyson |
3 July 2006 THE LAZY DAISY CAFE 59a PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W11
22 readers read a great variety of poems on a blisteringly hot night to an audience of over 40.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SIMON TAYLOR FOSTER | THE LOVELIEST OF OUR LAMAS | Osbert Lancaster |
| SUSAN WOLFE | GOD SAYS YES TO ME | Kaylin Haught |
| EDWARD THOMPSON | ATTACK | Siegfried Sassoon |
| KATHY PHILPOT | SAILING TO BYZANTIUM | W.B.Yeats |
| JANE DARWIN | REQUIEM FOR THE CROPPIES | Seamus Heaney |
| WILLIAM STADLEN | THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| ALEXI MOSTROUS | WHEN I HEARD THE LEARNED ASTRONOMER | Walt Whitman |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE LABORATORY | Robert Browning |
| LINDSAY MACKIE | from THE STEEPLEJACK | Marianne Moore |
| ANNA PHILPOT | BLOODY MEN | Wendy Cope |
| PHILIPPA FAWCETT | TO SLEEP | William Wordsworth |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | from RICHARD II | William Shakespeare |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | ON THE DEATH OF DR LEVET | Samuel Johnson |
| ROBINA ROSE | THE RUIN | Anon Early English |
| LOUISA PETO | from THE WINTER'S TALE | William Shakespeare |
| JORGE JESUS | MEANTIME | Fernando Pessoa |
| ELIZABETH WRANGHAM | CHANSON d'AUTOMNE | Paul Verlaine |
| ELIZABETH WRANGHAM | THE LOTUS EATERS | Alfred,Lord Tennyson |
| AISLING O'NEIL | NOVEL | Artur Rimbaud |
| FRANCES STADLEN | TONIGHT AT 7.30 and from NEW YEAR LETTER | W.H.Auden |
| MELANIE McFADYEAN | THE SUNLIGHT ON THE GARDEN | Louis MacNeice |
| DANIEL WOLF | BAGPIPE MUSIC | Louis MacNeice |
| MARIANKA SWAIN | AT A SOLEMN MUSIC | John Milton |
5 May 2006 THE KENSINGTON NURSING HOME LONDON W11
3 volunteer readers chose and read 20 poems loosely grouped into 4 themes : the stages of life, the human
potential for freedom even in conditions of confinement, war, and song.
| Poem | Author |
|---|---|
| THE SALUTATION | THOMAS TRAHERNE |
| DELICIOUS BABIES | PENELOPE SHUTTLE |
| THE CATCH | SIMON ARMITAGE |
| ANYONE LIVED IN A PRETTY HOW TOWN | E.E. CUMMINGS |
| SEASIDE GOLF | JOHN BETJEMAN |
| ONE ART | ELIZABETH BISHOP |
| WARNING | JENNY JOSEPH |
| FAURE'S SECOND PIANO QUARTET | JAMES SCHUYLER |
| TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON | RICHARD LOVELACE |
| THE GARDEN | ANDREW MARVELL |
| THE TREES | PHILIP LARKIN |
| I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD | WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |
| THE CONFIRMATION | EDWIN MUIR |
| THE ALARM OF THE ARMADA | LORD MACAULAY |
| JUNE 1966 | GAVIN EWART |
| EVERYONE SANG | SIEGFRIED SASSOON |
| JABBERWOCKY | LEWIS CARROLL |
| SEA FEVER | JOHN MASEFIELD |
| CARGOES | JOHN MASEFIELD |
| PROUD SONGSTERS | THOMAS HARDY |
24 MARCH 2006 THE LAZY DAISY CAFE 59a PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| NICK PHILPOT | PORPHYRIA’S LOVER | ROBERT BROWNING |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | OLD NOD THE SHEPHERD | WALTER de la MARE |
| ANNIE HENRY | THE GLASS | EDWIN MORGAN |
| JORGE JESUS | ON A SHIPMATE, PERO MONIZ, DYING AT SEA | LUIS CAMOES |
| BRIAN LOONEY | HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN | W.B.YEATS |
| ANNA PHILPOT | THAT THE SCIENCE OF CARTOGRAPHY IS LIMITED | EAVAN BOLAND |
| ALEXI MOSTROUS | LEAVE NEW YORK | JOSHUA BECKMAN |
| SUSAN WOLFE | THERE IS A GIRL INSIDE | LUCILLE CLIFTON |
| LINDSAY MACKIE | YOUNG LOCHINVAR | WALTER SCOTT |
| EDWARD GRETTON | FLYING CROOKED | ROBERT GRAVES |
| ELIZABETH WRANGHAM | from LITTLE GIDDING | T.S.ELIOT |
| USMAN SHEIKH | THE INFERNO | DANTE in a translation by Seamus Heaney |
| NICK STADLEN | from HENRY V | WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |
| NINA GRUNFELD | JOHNNIE CRACK AND FLOSSIE SNAIL | DYLAN THOMAS |
| CHLOE NALDRETT | SUMMER 1969 | SEAMUS HEANEY |
| DANIEL WOLF | SEPTEMBER 1939 | W.H. AUDEN |
16 FEBRUARY 2006 venue 112 ELGIN CRESCENT LONDON W11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| LOUISA PETO | DULCE ET DECORUM EST | Wilfred Owen |
| ERMANNO RIVETTI | THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER | William Blake |
| SOPHIE HOWARTH | I THANK YOU GOD FOR MOST THIS AMAZING DAY | ee cummings |
| ALEXI MOSTROUS | A VALEDICTION OF WEEPING | John Donne |
| LUCY ROEBER | MORNING SONG | Sylvia Plath |
| WILLIAM STADLEN | THE QUEST | W.H.Auden |
| NINA GRUNFELD | JOHNNIE CRACK AND FLOSSIE SNAIL | Dylan Thomas |
| ROBIN PAGNAMENTA | A DREAM DEFERRED and ADVICE | Langston Hughes |
| CATHERINE PORTEOUS | ON HIS BLINDNESS | John Milton |
| LINDSAY MACKIE | FOR MY MOTHER | Iain Crichton Smith |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | I MEASURE EVERY GRIEF I MEET | Emily Dickinson |
| NICK STADLEN | HENRY V | William Shakespeare |
| ANNETTE MOREAU | FOUNDLING | Sandy Solomon |
| ALEX STEWART | CROW’S ELEPHANT TOTEM SONG | Ted Hughes |
| PHILIPPA FAWCETT | THE PHOENIX AND THE TURTLE | William Shakespeare |
| FRANCES STADLEN | THE SNOWMAN | Wallace Stevens |