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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