a selection of recent readings
17th JUNE 2010 AT THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, MOUNT ST, MANCHESTER
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| MARK ABRAHAM | THE NEW VESTMENTS | Edward Lear |
| DOLORES LONG | MIRACLE ON ST DAVID'S DAY | Gillian Clarke |
| CATHY BRYANT | BMW | Steve O'Connor |
| HELENA JARMAN | HAVISHAM | Carol Ann Duffy |
| KIER THOMAS | I KNOW | Rod Tame |
| GAETANA TRIPPETTI | AE FOND KISS | Robert Burns |
| JOEL SWANN | A SONNET | John Milton |
| OLGA KENYON | WATER | Philip Larkin |
| MATT BYRNE | SKUNK HOUR | Robert Lowell |
| IAN REED | THE POETRY DIET | Cathy Bryant |
| BETH WILBURN | PIED BEAUTY | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| JOYCE REED | A CHILD'S SLEEP | Carol Ann Duffy |
| STEVE WALLING | RUNNING TO METER | Michael Haslam |
| PETER TOCTAN | TO HIS COY MISTRESS | Andrew Marvell |
| RUTH ABRAHAM | LET ME DIE A YOUNG MAN'S DEATH | Roger McGough |
| ALISON NICHOL | GOLIATH | Walter de la Mare |
| OLGA KENYON | JUDE'S STRAWBERRIES | Christine Bousfield |
| JULIE JARMAN | PAX | D.H.Lawrence |
| MARIA NIXON | THE HOTEL BROWN POEMS | John Ash |
| SHIRLEY NICHOLSON | THE GOOD NEWS | Tich Nhat Hanh |
26th May 2010 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN , LONDON W4
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| JILL WHITE | GET YOUR THINGS TOGETHER | Frances Nagle |
| ROBERTA AARONS | from THE SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY | Edgar Lee Masters |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | SHAKE, MULLEARY AND GO-ETHE | H.C.Bunner |
| JO SANDERS | WIND | Ted Hughes |
| PETER HOWELL | I NEVER EVEN SUGGESTED IT | Ogden Nash |
| ANNE FARTHING | BAGHDAD AND JOURNEY | Sheila Black |
| DAWN BRANDL | POEM | Dylan Thomas |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | THE SNAKE | D.H.Lawrence |
| DONALD TAYLOR | TO HIS COY MISTRESS | Andrew Marvell |
| MARGARET PICKFORD | WHAT IF..... | Benjamin Zephaniah |
| GEOFF HIRST | POEM ON THE UNDERGROUND | D.J.Enright |
| SARAH HAIMENDORF | THRUSHES | Siegfried Sassoon |
| JUDY WILLIAMS | ODE ON A GRECIAN URN | John Keats |
| SCOTT GRONMARK | OUT OF THE CRADLE..... | Walt Whitman |
| SUSIE STANLEY CARROLL | LINE JUDGES | from a Times leader |
5th May 2010 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | LET US CELEBRATE | Roger McGough |
| LORRAINE COOK | GLOIRE DE DIJON | D.H.Lawrence |
| JENNIE CLARKE | THE SPIRIT IS TOO BLUNT | Anne Stevenson |
| ALAN STAFFORD | WISTERIA | Michael A Guy |
| ALISON MYERS | DON'T ASK ME | R.S.Thomas |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | WEDDING | Alice Oswald |
| MIKE CARPENTER | TO HIS COY MISTRESS | Andrew Marvell |
| SYBIL DAVIES | ROMNEY MARSH | John Davidson |
| BRUCE EDWARDS | THE COMMERCIAL'S WIFE | Fay Inchbawn |
| GILLIAN STAFFORD | FRIENDSHIP | Cole Porter |
| LORRAINE COOK | EBB | Edna St Vincent Millay |
| JENNIE CLARKE | CHILDHOOD | Frances Cornford |
| ALAN STAFFORD | THE JOY OF SOCKS | Wendy Cope |
| ALISON MYERS | THERE WAS A TIME MY BONES KNEW | Arnold Wesker |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | MY COMPLICATED DAUGHTER | Julia Darling |
| MIKE CARPENTER | PLEASE MRS BUTLER | Alan Ahlberg |
| SYBIL DAVIES | CORINNA'S MAYING | Robert Herrick |
| BRUCE EDWARDS | THE DAUGHTER WHO WEEPS | T.S.Eliot |
20th April 2010 THE TRAVEL BOOKSHOP, BLENHEIM CRESCENT, LONDON W11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| KARINE CRABBE | QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL | Elizabeth Bishop |
| ROBIN PORTEOUS | from SOHRAB AND RUSTUM | Matthew Arnold |
| ANNA DANGOOR | AFTER THE LUNCH | Wendy Cope |
| BRIAN LOONEY | TAM O'SHANTER | Robert Burns |
| ROBINA ROSE | river passages from | Conrad and Dickens |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | AN ARUNDEL TOMB | Philip Larkin |
| JUDITH ELLIOT | from SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT | trans Simon Armitage |
| JO SANDERS | HOLY SONNET 14 | John Donne |
| MEIRION HARRIS | BIRTHDAYS AND DEATHDAYS | Sheila Shannon |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | PASSAGES | Sara Maguire |
| HUGH ROBERTS | THE TREVI FOUNTAIN | Vyacheslav Ivanovich |
| KATHERINE SCOTT | THE GUEST HOUSE | Rumi |
| MIKE MORRIS | from A SHROPSHIRE LAD | A.E.Housman |
| ALEKA LIEVEN | WHAT IT IS | Erich Fried |
| TOBY AISBITT | DEDICATION FOR A PLOT OF GROUND | William Carlos Williams |
| ANNIE HENRY | FOR A FIVE YEAR OLD | Fleur Adcock |
| MICHAEL BARNES | from THE PRELUDE | William Wordsworth |
| LINDA TAYLOR | from THE PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES | Geoffrey Chaucer |
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | THE NAMES OF THE HARE | Seamus Heaney |
| JOHN HENRY | FOR ALEC | Keith Ratcliffe |
8th April 2010 at MAGDALEN CHAPEL, HOLLOWAY, BATH, SOMERSET
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| WILLIAM BURMAN | MUSEE DES BEAUX ARTS | W.H.Auden |
| MERETTA HART | TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE | W.H.Auden |
| SARAH LEWIS | LINES WRITTEN ON A SEAT ON THE GRAND CANAL, DUBLIN | Patrick Kavanagh |
| CAROLINE HEATON | APRIL | Alice Oswald |
| PAT ROBSON | THE RUIN | Anon |
| WAYNE HILL | LOOKING FOR THE HOUSE | Candy Neubert |
| BEL MOONEY | MOUNTAIN LION | D.H.Lawrence |
| ROBIN ALLISON-SMITH | MISSING: A DOG'S DOGGEREL | Mary Morris |
| SARAH WHEELER | HIS PANTOUM | Carrie Etter |
| TESSA STRICKLAND | THE GREEN MAN | Charles Causley |
| SIMON PETTER | YASMIN | James Elroy Flecker |
| DIANA JEATER | TBC | |
| JUDITH YOUNG | EIDOLA | Samuel Daniel |
| KATE ORCHARD | MOZART, FOR EXAMPLE | Mary Oliver |
| CHARLES HAYWARD | A VIEW FROM THE PARADES | Christopher Anstey |
| JANET CUNLIFFE-JONES | ATLAS | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| SHEILA KINSELLA | THE WHITEWASHED WALL | Thomas Hardy |
| RO EMSLEY | DUCKS | F.W.Harvey |
| PADDY DOYLE | HIGH FLIGHT | John Gillespie Magee |
23rd MARCH 2010 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | BEST ANSWER | Joyce Grenfell |
| JENNIE CLARK | SOMETHING BIG | Howard Simon |
| ALAN STAFFORD | A UNION MAN | Anon |
| ALISON MYERS | THE CASUALTIES WERE SMALL | May Hill |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | MIDDLE AGE | Patricia Beer |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | MULGA BILL'S BICYCLE | Banjo Paterson |
| MIKE CARPENTER | BLACKBIRD | Cedric Clayton |
| JO ROBERTS | MY LOVER | Wendy Cope |
| SYBIL DAVIES | DAFFODILS | William Wordsworth |
| ANN DAVENPORT | FOR YOU MUM | Anon |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | INVICTUS | W E Henley |
| BRUCE EDWARDS | THE IMMORTAL GARDENER | Nancy Byrd Turner |
| GILL STAFFORD | THE LARK ASCENDING | George Merdith |
| JENNIE CLARKE | BLACKBERRY PICKING | Seamus Heaney |
| ALAN STAFFORD | ACHILLES(FOR DAVID BECKHAM) | Carol Ann Duffy |
| ALISON MYERS | LIE IN THE DARK AND LISTEN | Noel Coward |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | QUIET NEIGHBOURS | Sylvia Townsend Warner |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | SLOW SPRING | Katherine Tynan |
| MIKE CARPENTER | JOURNEY'S END | Mollie Bolt |
| JO ROBERTS | KIPLING | Carol Ann Duffy |
| SYBIL DAVIES | TO DAFFODILS | Robert Herrick |
| ANN DAVENPORT | THERE IS A PLEASURE IN WET CLAY | Rudyard Kipling |
16th MARCH 2010 AT THE FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, MANCHESTER
Having experienced a Pass On A Poem event elsewhere, Shirley Nicholson felt that the concept would be well received in
Manchester, where poetry is so deeply embedded. The first reading was indeed a great success. It felt as if it had been going
for months. Dolores Long, who supported Shirley in establishing contact with people from all over Manchester, acted as a
very warm compere. The group proved to be a nice mix of ages and occupations, and it was good to have among the readers
one of Manchester's most eminent and thrilling poets, Linda Chase, who does so much to promote poetry in the city and
surrounds. Owing to the impending refurbishment of the Central Library, which will take several years, inexpensive or free
venues are now quickly booked up. If you have any suggestions for venues, please contact enquiries@passonapoem.com.
As soon as one is found, the date of the next reading will be announced.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| FRANCES STADLEN | A QUIET LIFE | Baron Wormser |
| KATH FRY | CARGOES | John Masefield |
| OLGA KENYON | FISH | Elizabeth Bishop |
| RACHEL DAVIES | BIRKDALE NIGHTINGALE | Jean Sprackland |
| OLGA KENYON (chosen by Alan Spenser) | POSTSCRIPT | Seamus Heaney |
| CATHY BRYANT | DADDY | Sylvia Plath |
| ALISON NICHOL | LAUGH AND BE MERRY | John Masefield |
| SAM O'CONNOR | SUCH CASUAL WISDOM | Robert Cochrane |
| DOLORES LONG | BLACKBERRY PICKING | Seamus Heaney |
| SHIRLEY NICHOLSON | THIS DAY, AND PROBABLY TOMORROW ALSO | Mary Oliver |
| RUTH ABRAHAMS | THE SINGING CAT | Stevie Smith |
| IAN REED | MUSIC OF TIME | Joyce Reed |
| SAM OHANA | A KITE IS A VICTIM | Leonard Cohen |
| KEIR THOMAS | A SUBALTERN'S LOVE SONG | John Betjeman |
| LINDA CHASE | ANYONE LIVED IN A PRETTY HOW TOWN | e.e.cummings |
| JULIE JARMAN | GOD'S GRANDEUR | G.M.Hopkins |
| MARK ABRAHAM | TO BE A POET A THOUSAND YEARS HENCE | James Elroy Flecker |
9th February 2010 in NOTTING HILL, LONDON W 11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| LINDA TAYLOR | VALENTINE | Carol Ann Duffy |
| CATHERINE MCCARTHY | SUZANNE | Leonard Cohen |
| WILLIAM BROOKFIELD | IN PRAISE OF FEELING BAD ABOUT YOURSELF | Wislawa Szymborska |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | BARE ALMOND TREES | D.H.Lawrence |
| ALEKA LIEVEN | THE TYGER | William Blake |
| TOBY AISBITT | HOMAGE TO GOA | Derek Mahon |
| CHRISTINA McCARTHY | A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM | Edgar Allan Poe |
| JO SANDERS | MOTHER SCRUBBING THE FLOOR | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE IRISH ROVER | Traditional |
| JUDITH ELLIOT | THE FIRST GENIUSES | Billy Collins |
| ANNIE HENRY | FAILURE | Rupert Brooke |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | from LITTLE GIDDING, THE FOUR QUARTETS | T.S.Eliot |
| PHILPPA FAWCETT | WHO DID WHICH | Ogden Nash |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | CARRION COMFORT | G.M.Hopkins |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | THE SOLITARY REAPER | William Wordsworth |
| MIKE MORRIS | CASCANDO | Samuel Beckett |
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | CATSEYE WOMAN | Dennis Doyle |
| KATHY PHILPOT | WHEN MY PARENTS DANCED THE TANGO | Christopher Wiseman |
| TREVOR MOSTYN | LAST NIGHT I DREAMED THAT ANGELS STOOD WITHOUT MY DOOR | Hafez. trans Gertrude Bell |
| CATHERINE PORTEOUS | MY SOUL, THERE IS A COUNTRY | Henry Vaughan |
| ANNA DANGOOR | THE PLACE WHERE WE ARE RIGHT | Yehuda Amichai |
| KARINE CRABBE | A MAN DOESN'T HAVE TIME IN HIS LIFE | Yehuda Amichai |
| ROBINA ROSE | NOT I | Samuel Beckett |
4th February 2010 THE LIBRARY, SHEEN LANE CENTRE, RICHMOND, SURREY
This, the fourth reading at this lovely library, marked Pass On A Poem's first anniversary in the neighbourhood. Under the
unobtrusive but warm, sure and imaginative leadership of Kathy Philpot, Adrienne Jack and Kathy's husband, John, the
venue is going from strength to strength. There was a palpable air of enjoyment and expectation, and over 50 people
attended. The reading was remarkable for the mixture it contained of well known classics made utterly fresh for being read
with such devotion and intelligence and of other completely unknown poems by, in three instances, relatives or friends of
readers. There were plenty of amusing contributions as well as much irony to leaven the profundities and the melancholy.
Bernard Adams, the group's most sympathetic and skilled compere, started with part of a beautiful and characteristic
Machado elegy, some of which he read first in Spanish. Jeremy Preston, the lynchpin of the venue as librarian-host, followed
with the moving For Johnny , A Remembrance of the Battle of Britain. Oliver Kent's War, Anna Hearne's paired Angel to
Mortal and Mortal to Angel poems and Julian Cooke's Secrets In The Bush - the poems new to everybody - were received
with much appreciation, as was the poignant Australian ballad by Myra Morris, The Pallid Cuckoo. The latter was an
excellent counterpoint to Hardy's The Ruined Maid, read so well by Shiona Llewellyn. Mark Strand's Lines for Winter,
wonderfully read by Linda Taylor, Sally Hamwee's magical reading of Yeats' When You Are Old and Tom Stanier's revelatory
version of Auden's As I Walked Out...were all poems that led us through attention and longing to interior mystery.
Mireille Stanton and Anne Sawbridge were both on cracking form, doing full justice to Allan Ahlberg's Please Mrs Butler and
Sophie's Hannah's surrealistic excursion to an outlet of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. Larkin's The Whitsun Weddings was
given a vivid, personally felt reading by Pat Tilley, an exile from Yorkshire and fellow traveller on north/ south railway lines.
Joy Catford evoked her own and others' childhoods very delicately with R.LStephenson's Envoys. Ozymandias lived again as
a warning for our soiled times thanks to Anne Blake, who brought him out loud and clear.Peter Hayward's wry,
conversational
reading of Frost's Mending Wall was superb. John Williams gave us a piercing, even chilling version of Auden's
The Unknown Citizen. The same passion to wake us up humanly and politically was evident in Tim Catchpole's heartfelt
rendering of Louis MacNeice's battle-cry Prayer Before Birth. Wordsworth's Lines composed a few miles above Tintern
Abbey on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour, July 13, 1798 is familar to many students of English literature,
though not necessarily well understood. Andrew Calder succeeded triumphantly in laying bare for us its beauty, its
drama and high moral seriousness. Roger Morsley Smith continues with his remarkable performances for Pass On A Poem's
London venues of parts of Four Quartets, on this occasion from East Coker. Once again he held us wrapt, surely taking us to
the heart of Eliot's vision. Amateur these events may be - indeed are proud to be - but it is hard to imagine a better, more
human evening's entertainment in all of London, perhaps even the world, and all for free and in the medium of poetry.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| BERNARD ADAMS | FOR DON FRANCISCO DE LOS RIOS | Antonio Machado |
| JEREMY PRESTON | FOR JOHNNY | John Pudney |
| PEN KENT | WAR | Oliver Kent |
| JOY CATFORD | ENVOYS | R.L.Stephenson |
| PAT TILLEY | THE WHITSUN WEDDINGS | Philip Larkin |
| MIREILLE STANTON | PLEASE MRS BUTLER | Allan Ahlberg |
| LINDA TAYLOR | LINES FOR WINTER | Mark Strand |
| SHIONA LLEWELLYN | THE RUINED MAID | Thomas Hardy |
| ANNE SAWBRIDGE | IN WOKINGHAM ON BOXING DAY AT THE EDINBURGH WOOLEN MILL | Sophie Hannah |
| CAROLE ROGERSON | THE ANGEL TO THE MORTAL | Anna Hearne |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | from EAST COKER out of FOUR QUARTETS | T.S.Eliot |
| SALLY HAMWEE | WHEN YOU ARE OLD | W.B.Yeats |
| ANNE BLAKE | OZYMANDIAS | P.B.Shelley |
| TIM CATCHPOLE | PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH | Louis MacNeice |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | THE UNKNOWN CITIZEN | W.H.Auden |
| ANDREW CALDER | from TINTERN ABBEY | William Wordsworth |
| PETER HAYWARD | MENDING WALL | Robert Frost |
| JOY MANNERS | THE PALLID CUCKOO | Myra Morris |
| TOM STANIER | AS I WALKED OUT ONE EVENING | W.H.Auden |
| ANTHONY HACKING | SECRETS IN THE BUSH | Julian Cooke |
26th JANUARY 2010 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | NOT MY BEST SIDE | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| LORRAINE COOK | SPARED | Wendy Cope |
| JENNIE CLARKE | AFTERNOON IN SCHOOL - THE LAST LESSON | D.H.Lawrence |
| ALAN STAFFORD | FAMILY ALBUM | Elizabeth Santos |
| ALISON MYERS | SPELLBOUND | Emily Bronte |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | THE LAVATORY ATTENDANT | Wendy Cope |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | ESCAPE AT BEDTIME | R.L.Stevenson |
| MIKE CARPENTER | THE EARLY MORNING RUSH | Tina Kugeneiks |
| JO ROBERTS | REFUGEE BLUES | W.H.Auden |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE HOLY WAR | Rudyard Kipling |
| ANN DAVENPORT | THE SNOWDROP | Anna L Barbauld |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | A MUSICAL AT HOME | Dr E.V.Rien |
| GILL STAFFORD | TO A SNOWDROP | William Wordsworth |
| JENNIE CLARKE | TO HIS COY MISTRESS | Andrew Marvell |
| ALAN STAFFORD | A WINTRY SONNET | Christina Rossetti |
| ALISON MYERS | A WINTER'S TALE | D.H.Lawrence |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | EARLY MORNING FEED | Peter Redgrove |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | THE RAINBOW | Michael Forster |
| MIKE CARPENTER | WINDOWS | Cedric Clayton |
| JO ROBERTS | THE YELLOW PALM | Robert Minhinnick |
| SYBIL DAVIES | ROUNDABOUTS AND SWINGS | Patrick R |
| ANN DAVENPORT | THE WEIGHT OF NOTHING | Karl Kauter |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | TULLY LOE: TETE A TETE IN THE PARISH PRIEST'S PARLOUR | Paul Durkin |
16th December 2009 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN , LONDON W4
The Christmas gathering of this popular venue in West London was very well attended. People brought along some
wonderful poems, many of them new to the audience, some amusing, some very thought provoking and moving. Kathy
Hall recited Hopkins' Windhover with great devotion to the text, and Roger Morsley Smith's performance of Paul Jennings'
Galoshes was a tour de force. Everybody who read opened up their poems in a most remarkable way, including and perhaps
especially, some of the more familiar ones, such as Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts offered by John Williams. This is one of
the best things about Pass On A Poem readings, as is being introduced to as yet unread poets. Matt Sullivan, for example,
gave a memorable reading of Sunflower Sutra by Allen Ginsberg, a revelation for those who did not know his work. The
theme of Christmas was well represented too. The feeling at the end was that Susie, Sarah, and Jill, the manager of the
thriving Oxfam bookshop in which we are always made so very welcome, had created yet another great evening of poetry.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| JILL WHITE | IN 1999 from CLOSE TO THE SHORE | Anon |
| KATHY HALL | THE WINDHOVER | Gerard Manley Hopkins |
| DAWN BRANDL | APPLE BLOSSOM | Louis MacNeice |
| PETER HOWELL | CHRISTMAS | John Betjeman |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | GALOSHES | Paul Jennings |
| CLARE PHILBIN | FLANDERS' FIELD | John McCrae |
| SHIRLEY NICHOLSON | PRAYER | Imatz Dharker |
| CLARE WILLIAMSON | KING JOHN'S CHRISTMAS | A.A.Milne |
| JENNIFER | THE APPRENTICE'S SORCERER | Peter Porter |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | MUSEE DES BEAUX ARTS | W.H.Auden |
| SARAH HEIMENDORF | THE INNOCENT'S SONG | Charles Causley |
| CATHERINE SULLIVAN | PHASES OF THE MOON | Elinor Wiley |
| SCOTT GRONMARK | CHRISTMAS TREES | Robert Frost |
| ANNE FARTHING | THE INTERVIEW | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| MATT SULLIVAN | SUNFLOWER SUTRA | Allen Ginsberg |
| JO SANDERS | PRAYER OF COMMENDATION TO OUR LADY OF CHARTRES | Charles Peguy |
| SUSAN STANLEY-CARROLL | A GIFT FROM THE STARS | John Rice |
15th October 2009, IN NOTTING HILL, LONDON W11
The Notting Hill group met again after, as was generally agreed, too long a break. The summer reading had been postponed
due to unforeseen circumstances. The poets and poems proposed were marvellously varied. Readers - young and older - read
with great passion, some in an intimate voice, some with the theatricality appropriate to the chosen poems by Allen Ginsberg,
Louis MacNeice and Rudyard Kipling. One of the most appreciated aspects of Pass On A Poem evenings is the way in
which completely amateur readers manage so often to bring vividly to life well known works by classic poets. Yeats, Milton,
John Masefield, Hardy, T.S.Eliot and Frost were all illuminated by being read in a relaxed and attentive way. Another
feature of the readings is the introduction they give to much less celebrated poems and poets, old and new. The
evening was rich in these.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| FRANCES STADLEN | THE POEM YOU ASKED FOR | Larry Levis |
| ANNIE HENRY | THE RAILWAY CHILDREN | Seamus Heaney |
| JOHN HENRY | THE 350S | Stephen Beal |
| HAZEL MORRIS | CARGOES | John Masefield |
| DIXIE CHASSAY | STORIES BECOME ONE | Anon |
| LOUISA PETO | THESE ARE THE HANDS | Michael Rosen |
| KATHY PHILPOT | MARGARET GILL'S QUIET LIFE | Christopher Wiseman |
| ALEKA LIEVEN | THE FARM WOMAN'S WINTER | Thomas Hardy |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | from THE FOUR QUARTETS | T.S.Eliot |
| KARINE CRABBE | ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT | Robert Frost |
| TOMMY STADLEN | LURIANA LURILEE | Charles Elton |
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | BAGPIPE MUSIC | Louis NacNeice |
| BRIAN LOONEY | THE LION FOR REAL | Allen Ginsberg |
| LUCINDA BARRY | REASON AND PASSION XV | Khalil Gibran |
| JANE DARWIN | TO MARGOT HEINEMANN | John Cornford |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | GUNGA DIN | Rudyard Kipling |
| ROBINA ROSE | from SAMSON AGONISTES | John Milton |
| WILLIAM STADLEN | THE CIRCUS ANIMALS' DESERTION | W.B.Yeats |
8 OCTOBER 2009 THE LIBRARY, SHEEN LANE CENTRE, RICHMOND, SURREY
The third reading of the group in the library at the Sheen Lane Centre was again very well attended, by around 50 people.
Eight new readers were welcomed by organisers Kathy Philpot and Adrienne Jack. Jeremy Preston, the librarian, continues
to be extremely supportive. Bernard Adams acted as compere.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| BERNARD ADAMS | WHAT THEN | W.B.Yeats |
| JEREMY PRESTON | DULCE ET DECORUM EST | Wilfred Owen |
| ANNE BLAKE | THE QUEEN'S PICKLE | Christopher Matthew |
| JOY CATFORD | AUTUMN FIRES | R.L.Stephenson |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | FLANNAN ISLE | Wilfred Gibson |
| ALISON WILSON | IN SUMMER TIME ON BREDON | A.E.Housman |
| MIREILLE STANTON | LE CHALAND | Emile Verhaeren |
| FRANCESCA OWEN | MRS MIDAS | Carol Ann Duffy |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | GALOSHES | Paul Jennings |
| KATHLEEN SHERIDAN | TRIBE | monica arac de nyeko |
| TOM STANIER | THE ALCHEMIST | Francis Hope |
| JENNY BALDWIN | PROMETHEAN | Don Paterson |
| GRAHAME MONEY | CLANCY OF THE OVERFLOW | A.B.Paterson |
| SALLY HAMWEE | IN TIME OF DAFFODILS | e.e.cummings |
| JOY MANNERS | CYNARA | Ernest Dowson |
| LOUISE MANNERS | HERO AND LEANDER | Christopher Marlowe |
| MONA ADAMS | JIM | Hilaire Belloc |
| ADRIENNE JACK | THE LAST POST | Carol Ann Duffy |
July 2009 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
The Bedford group, organised by Gill Stafford, is now very well established.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | BEAUTY | Khalil Gibran |
| LORRAINE COOK | SUZANNAH | Leonard Cohen |
| JENNIE CLARKE | DESIDERATA | Max Erhmann |
| ALAN STAFFORD | THE EXECUTION | Alden Nowlan |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | WORDS, WIDE NIGHT | Carol Ann Duffy |
| MIKE CARPENTER | STONEHENGE | Siegfried Sassoon |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | NETTLES | Vernon Scannell |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | from MEDITATION NO. XVII | John Donne |
| JO ROBERTS | MOON LANDING | W.H.Auden |
| SYBIL DAVIES | from MORTE D'ARTHUR | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | THE SHOOTING OF DAN MCGREW | Robert Service |
| GILL STAFFORD | TEARS IDLE TEARS | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| LORRAINE COOK | A WOMAN'S WORK | Dorothy Nimmo |
| JENNIE CLARKE | THE OWL CRITIC | James T Fields |
| ALAN STAFFORD | TO THE ONE UPSTAIRS | Charles Simic |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | THANKYOU NOTE | Dannie Abse |
| CYNTHIA MORE | LEAVING AND LEAVING YOU | Sophie Hannah |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | REAL | Emily Dickinson |
| MIKE CARPENTER | LAST DAYS | Alison Norris |
| JO ROBERTS | THE MOON | P.B.Shelley |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE LOTUS EATERS | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL | Anon |
23rd June 2009 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
The Bedford group goes from strength to strength with monthly readings organised by Gill Stafford
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | PHENOMENAL WOMAN | Maya Angelou |
| LORRAINE COOK | SONNET 11 | Edna St Vincent Millay |
| JENNIE CLARKE | THE LITTLE BLACK BOY | William Blake |
| ALAN STAFFORD | THE BARN | Edmund Blunden |
| MIKE CARPENTER | THE END | Peter Halpin |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | WOODLAND BURIAL | Pam Ayres |
| JO ROBERTS | POLITICS | Carol Ann Duffy |
| ALISON MYERS | MORNING SONG | Sylvia Plath |
| ANN DAVENPORT | THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS | Rudyard Kipling |
| SYBIL DAVIES | ON MALVERN HILL | John Masefield |
| MAUREEN ATKINS | THE HIGHWAYMAN | Alfred Noyes |
| GILL STAFFORD | ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE | William Shakespeare |
| LORRAINE COOK | TITANIA'S BOWER | Willam Shakespeare |
| JENNIE CLARKE | AN OLD WOMAN OF THE ROADS | Padraic Colum |
| ALAN STAFFORD | O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN | Walt Whitman |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | HIGH FLIGHT (AN AIRMAN'S ECSTACY) | John Gillespie Magee |
| MIKE CARPENTER | AN ENDING | Wendy Cope |
| JO ROBERTS | POLITICS | W.B.Yeats |
| ALISON MYERS | THE WILD ROSE | Mary Webb |
| ANN DAVENPORT | DOG DAYS | Marion Elliot |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE CHILTERNS | Rupert Brooke |
17th June 2009 AT THE HAVEN, EALING BROADWAY, WEST LONDON
Catherine has found a new venue for the Ealing readings, an upper room in the The Haven pub. This is a new group and
still small , but the quality and interest of the readings were high. We were particularly pleased to welcome a new reader
fresh from finsihing her A levels, none of them in English Literature.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SHEILA TIFFANY | from LINES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY | William Wordsworth |
| LINDA TAYLOR | SIX YOUNG MEN | Ted Hughes |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | IN MEMORY OF MAJOR RICHARD GREGORY | W.B.Yeats |
| BETH AITMEN | THE BURNT BRIDGE | Louis MacNeice |
| CHRISTINA McCARTHY | 'TIS I GO FIDDLING | Nora Hopper |
| MAGGIE EDWARDS | MR EDWARDS | Charles Thomson |
| BRENDAN DUFFY | WHO KNOWS IF THE MOON'S | e e cummings |
| CATHERINE McCARTHY | SUMMER VILLANELLE | Wendy Cope |
| DON KENNEDY | MIDDLESEX | John Betjeman |
| LANCE PIERSON | A SUBALTERN'S LOVE SONG | John Betjeman |
3rd June 2009 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN , LONDON W4
Susie and Sarah organised a very enjoyable evening, and they were ably assisted by Chris, in the role of compere. Thanks,
as always, to Jill, the manager of this great Oxfam Bookshop, for her hospitality and time.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| JILL WHITE | A RIDDLE | Anon |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | AT GRASS | Philip Larkin |
| DAWN BRANDL | THE CALL | Charlotte Mew |
| SARAH HAIMENDORF | ADLESTROP | Edward Thomas |
| ROBERTA AARONS | NIGHT MAIL | W.H.Auden |
| CLARE PHILBIN | McCAVITY | T.S.Eliot |
| LISA MANGLES | WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS | Shel Silversten |
| LANCE PIERSON | A SUBALTERN'S LOVE SONG | John Betjeman |
| JO SANDERS | NOT MY BEST SIDE | U.A.Fanthorpe |
| MARGARET PICKFORD | HIGH FLYER | John Gillespie Moffatt |
| COLIN PARSLEY | ABOUT BEN ADHEM | James Leigh Hunt |
| LINDA TAYLOR | THERE WAS A BOY | William Wordsworth |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | THE SECOND COMING | W.B.Yeats |
| ANNE FARTHING | SUMMER MOODS | John Clare |
| ANNELI ISHERWOOD | ONE TRACK MIND | Sophie Hannah |
| KATHY HALL | SIR BEELZEBUB | Edith Sitwell |
| MATT SULLIVAN | THE MOANER | Richard Magoffin |
| SUSAN STANLEY-CARROLL | CONFESSIONS OF A YOUTH | Eric.L.Dunne |
14 May 2009 THE LIBRARY, SHEEN LANE CENTRE, RICHMOND, SURREY
The second reading of the Sheen and Richmond group in the lovely space of the library at the Sheen Lane Centre was very
well attended by local people from this close knit community as well as by readers from Uganda, Australia, France and the
USA. Bernard Adams served as a most friendly and encouraging compere in a great evening, seamlessly organised by Kathy
Philpot and Adrienne Jack, and hosted by the very popular librarian, Jeremy Preston.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| BERNARD ADAMS | from LLANTO POR IGNACIO SANCHEZ MEJIAS | Federico Garcia Lorca |
| JEREMY PRESTON | LEISURE | W.H. Davies |
| JOY CATFORD | THE SCARECROW | Walter de la Mare |
| SALLY HAMWEE | A FEW DONT'S ABOUT DECORATION | Simon Armitage |
| MIREILLE STANTON | IL PLEURE DANS MON COEUR | Paul Verlaine |
| SARAH RADCLIFFE | SNAKE | D.H.Lawrence |
| KATHLEEN SHERIDAN | EGGS | Daniela Gioseffi |
| KAFERO MWANGO | CONVERSATION | Lucy Shaw |
| SHIONA LLEWELLYN | LOVE SONGS IN AGE | Philip Larkin |
| PAT TILLEY | THE LICORICE FIELDS AT PONTEFRACT | John Betjeman |
| ANNA PHILPOT | STILL I RISE | Maya Angelou |
| JANE LAWRENCE | IS MY TEAM STILL PLOUGHING | A.E.Housman |
| FRANCESCA OWEN | GOING, GOING | Philip Larkin |
| HILARY HOWARD | HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN | W.B.Yeats |
| ROSEMARY ROSENBURG | BROOMHILL | John Betjeman |
| HELEN GREVEN | THE DOORMOUSE AND THE DOCTOR | A.A.Milne |
| MARGO CULLEY | FORGETFULNESS | Billy Collins |
| YVONNE COURT | WARNING | Jenny Joseph |
| CELIA CATCHPOLE | THAT NATURE IS A HERACLITEAN FIRE.... | G.M.Hopkins |
| ADRIENNE JACK | TORTOISE | Judith Chernaik |
21 April 2009 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | TREVAIL(1) | Stephanie Norgate |
| LORRAINE COOK | LES BALLONS | Oscar Wilde |
| JENNIE CLARKE | THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES | Charles Lamb |
| ALAN STAFFORD | A SUBALTERN'S LOVE SONG | John Betjeman |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | COMING | Philip Larkin |
| MIKE CARPENTER | A READING | Wendy Cope |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | DAFFODILS | William Wordsworth |
| JO ROBERTS | REMEMBRANCE | Emily Bronte |
| ALISON MYERS | THIS WORLD IS NOT CONCLUSION | Emily Dickinson |
| ANN DAVENPORT | LOVELIEST OF TREES | A.E.Housman |
| GILL STAFFORD | APRIL RISE | Laurie Lee |
| LORRAINE COOK | THE TASK | William Cowper |
| JENNIE CLARK | WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY | A.E.Housman |
| ALAN STAFFORD | NETTLES | Vernon Scannell |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | TULIPS | Wendy Cope |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| MIKE CARPENTER | YOUNG AND OLD | Charles Kingsley |
| JO ROBERTS | SALLY IN OUR ALLEY | Henry Carey |
| ALISON MYERS | THE GARDEN SEAT | Thomas Hardy |
| ANN DAVENPORT | THE WORLD | William Brighty Rands |
7th April 2009 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, 170 PORTOBELLO ROAD, LONDON W11
At this special event, three of our regular readers, Peter Howell, Brian Looney and Roger Morsley-Smith, gave of their time
and great talents in a reading to raise money for our hosts, the Oxfam Bookshop. The manager Jackie Date, and volunteers,
in particular, Andrea Lowe and Rhona Pasmore, have consistently offered us this venue and their time to make our readings
possible and successful. All our readers are very grateful. The evening made over £200, and will soon be available as a film
on the website. In a series of marvellous readings by Peter, Brian and Roger we heard the following poems:
Robert Browning. Home Thoughts From Abroad
Robert Frost. Spring Pools
William Shakespeare. Sonnet 106
Dorothy Parker. Review of the Sex Situation
Harold Pinter. Joseph Brearley
John Stammers. Sunflower
Paul Jennings. Galoshes
T.S.Eliot. Macavity the Mystery Cat
W.J.Duff. Absent Friends
Amy Clampitt. Hermit Thrush
D.H.Lawrence. The Snake
Vernon Scannell. Incendiary
Fleur Adcock. Things
William Shakespeare. Sonnet 18
W.J.Duff. Old Man’s Prayer
Roger McGough. At Lunchtime, A Story of Love
Wilfred Owen. Dulce Et Decorum Est
W.B.Yeats. The Cloths of Heaven
Roger McGough. Let Me Die A Young Man’s Death
Thom Gunn. On The Move
Edward Thomas/Anon. Adlestrop and Not Adlestrop
F.T.Prince. Soldiers Bathing
Traditional. Finnegan’s Wake
William Wordsworth. Recollections of Childhood
Philip Larkin. Dockery and Son
G.M.Hopkins. Inversnaid
Les Murray An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow
Hal Summers. The Seed
John Donne. I Wonder, By My Troth…
Elizabeth Jennings. A Performance of Henry V At Stratford-Upon-Avon
31st March 2009 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN , LONDON W4
Spring merged merged mysteriously into summer and the change of season heralded the first 2009 poetry gathering
for PASS ON A POEM at the Oxfam Bookshop, Chiswick. Our friendly group of known readers were joined by new
participants, including Kathleen Sheridan, Kafero Mwanga, Anne Farthing, Lesley Brown, Ann Williams and Ian Hunter.
In December we mournfully said au revoir to William, and he has been replaced by a previous reader, Chris Thomas. The
presenter’s mantle fits Chris perfectly. He delighted all of us with his witticisms, and made past and present readers feel
comfortable and happy to read a varied choice of poems. Thank you Chris, and thank you Jill. Jill, the Oxfam Bookshop
Manager, zipped the event off with a humorous haiku by Basho, and laughter rippled round the room. Thank you everyone
else for supporting the evening so very generously.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| JILL WHITE | A HAIKU | Basho |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | FELIX RANDALL | G.M.Hopkins |
| KATHLEEN MARIE SHERIDAN | when faces called flowers... | e e cummings |
| JO SANDERS | MRS MIDAS | Carol Ann Duffy |
| PETER HOWELL | DOVER BEACH | Matthew Arnold |
| KAFERO BOB MWANGA | THE COST OF LIVING | Cecil Rajendra |
| DAWN BRANDL | CORRESPONDENCE....... | Stevie Smith |
| JANE WHITWORTH | BED IN SUMMER | R.L.Stevenson |
| ANNE FARTHING | THE BLUE BOOK | Owen Sheers |
| JOHN WILLIAMS | FLANNAN ISLE | Wilfred Wilson Gibson |
| IAN HUNTER | IF | Rudyard Kipling |
| LESLEY D BROWN | THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR | Mary Coleridge |
| ANNE WILLIAMS | KISSING | Dorianne Laux |
| MATT SULLIVAN | PACKHORSE DRIVER | Bruce Forbes Simpson |
| MARGARET PICKFORD | JUST IN CASE | Charlotte Mitchell |
| JOHN LAVERS | TARANTELLA | Hilaire Belloc |
| CATHERINE SULLIVAN | THE DREAM CALLED LIFE | Edward Fitzgerald |
| TONY INWOOD | FORGIVE ME | Sarah Churchill |
| KATHY HALL | THE GALLOPING CAT | Stevie Smith |
| SIMON RODWAY | A PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER | W.B.Yeats |
| SARAH HEIMENDORF | INTERIOR DESIGN | Gill Rowe |
| COLIN PARSLEY | TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE | W.H.Auden |
2nd April 2009 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP 170 PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W 11
The Notting Hill venue was excited to welcome many newcomers, who brought a fabulous collection of poems to share,
ranging from light and witty to more serious, and even tragic. Kathleen Sheridan introduced her beguiling reading of
when faces called flowers with telling words about its significance to her, demonstrating the potent mix at PASS ON
A POEM between reader and poem that accounts for much of the magic of these evenings. Anyway, read beautifully by
Lucian Williams, apparently hung, he told us, in Mother Teresa's office. As there can, on occasion, be a glut of 20th
century poetry, it was good to have the 16th century so elegantly represented by Hugh Roberts. Linda Taylor brought
Seamus Heaney to life with her clear and delighted reading of Death Of A Naturalist, and Chrissie Kounoupa read The
Road Not Taken with moving personal conviction. Fred Blackford, an ex-drama student in his 20s, gave us a tour de force
with his reading of Bernard Levin's brilliant Quoting Shakespeare. Jo Sanders introduced John Updike as a poet with her
arresting delivery of his Seven Stanzas For Easter.
Richard Gilmore read from The Prelude so thoughtfully and naturally,
that it presented no barriers. For many, the highlight of the evening was the enormous treat of hearing a very human
professional, Bob Kingdom - who kindly agreed to come along to what is usually an entirely non-professional evening -
reciting Dylan Thomas's Lament. By any standards, this was the most remarkable dive into language of enormous power
and beauty. Towards the end of the evening, Kafero Mwango read Cecil Rajendra's The Cost of Living with immense poise,
holding the entire room in the palm of his hand. Jill Doyle ended with an equally heartfelt poem from Carmichael's Book, a
modern rendering of the beautiful Carmina Gadelica. With my sweet old etcetera, Alexi Mostrous made us all laugh.
Thanks too to all the other readers who also made us smile, laugh, pause and think. We are grateful, as always, to Oxfam
for making the venue available, and to William Stadlen for his encouraging, appreciative and witty compering.
It was an
evening of great happiness, not least because so many people in their 20s and 30s came to share poems.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| KATHLEEN SHERIDAN | when faces called flowers | e e cummings |
| CATHERINE MCCARTHY | VALENTINE | Wendy Cope |
| JACKIE DATE | I'M FINE, THANKYOU | Anon |
| CHRISTINA BOLTON | SCARECROW | Walter de la Mere |
| HUGH ROBERTS | THEY FLEE FROM ME.... | Sir Thomas Wyatt |
| PHILIPPA FAWCETT | I WAS A CHILD AND OVERWHELMED | Robert Graves |
| CHRISSIE KOUNOUPA | THE ROAD NOT TAKEN | Robert Frost |
| SHEILA TIFFANY | MESSAGE | Wendy Cope |
| FRED BLACKFORD | QUOTING SHAKESPEARE | Bernard Levin |
| MAGGIE WOONTON | TRUE LOVE | Judith Voist |
| KATE BIRK | IN PARIS WITH YOU | James Fenton |
| JO SANDERS | SEVEN STANZAS AT EASTER | John Updike |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | A BLESSING | James Wright |
| ALEXI MOSTROUS | my sweet old etcetera | e e cummings |
| LINDA TAYLOR | DEATH OF A NATURALIST | Seamus Heaney |
| JILL CARLYLE | PAPER AND STICKS | Dylan Thomas |
| RICHARD GILMORE | from THE PRELUDE | William Wordsworth |
| CATHERINE HEADLEY | BREAKFAST | Jacques Prevert |
| KARINE CRABBE | A GLASS OF WINE | Andrew Motion |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | BLACKBIRD | Alfred Lord Tennyson |
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | WILL AND TESTAMENT | John Wynstanley |
| BOB KINGDOM | LAMENT | Dylan Thomas |
| LUCIAN WILLIAMS | ANYHOW | Anon |
| KAFERO MWANGO | THE COST OF LIVING | Cecil Rajendra |
| JILL DOYLE | INCANTATION | Alex Hutchison |
19 February 2009 THE LIBRARY, SHEEN LANE CENTRE, RICHMOND, SURREY
The inaugural reading of the Sheen and Richmond group, beautifully organised by two longstanding
PASS ON A POEM readers, Kathy Philpot and Adrienne Jack, took place in the library thanks to the
hospitality of the librarian. The evening was a great success, much enjoyed.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| BERNARD ADAMS | SYCAMORE (ACER PSEUDOPLATANUS) | Nancy Williams |
| JERMEY PRESTON | CODE POEM FOR THE FRENCH RESISTANCE | Leo Marks |
| JOY CATFORD | KEEPSAKE MILL | R.L.Stevenson |
| DIANA CHERRY | BESIDE THE SEASIDE | John Betjeman |
| SALLY HAMWEE | ORDERS OF THE DAY | William Palmer |
| LINDA TAYLOR | COURTYARDS IN DELFT | Derek Mahon |
| SHIONA LLEWELLYN | POEM FOR LIVERPOOL 8 | Adrian Henri |
| PAT TILLEY | THE ROAD NOT TAKEN | Robert Frost |
| DEBORAH LUKE | THE REAPER | William Wordsworth |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | from LITTLE GIDDING, THE FOUR QUARTETS | T.S.Eliot |
| ANNA PHILPOT | KINDNESS | Naomi Shihab Nye |
| GILL CONWAY | DEPARTURE | F.Carey Slater |
| JAMES MACKINTOSH | ETIQUETTE | W.S.Gilbert |
| JANE LAWRENCE | FUTURE WORK | Fleur Adcock |
| MIKE MORRIS | NO V11 OF THE GLANMORE SONNETS | Seamus Heaney |
| CELIA CATCHPOLE | INVICTUS | William.E.Henley |
| MICHELLE HARGREAVES | PIANO | D.H.Lawrence |
| JULIAN HEDDY | ODE TO TRANQUILLITY | S.T.Coleridge |
| TOM STANIER | THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS | Rudyard Kipling |
| ADRIENNE JACK | THE ARTIST | William Carlos Williams |
14 January 20o9 AT THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| EDWARD CAIN | BILLERICAY DICKEY | Ian Dury |
| RONA PASSMORE | UNTITLED | Robert Burns |
| MAGGIE WOONTON | A READING | Wendy Cope |
| MICHAEL BARNES | TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN | Adrian Mitchell |
| ANNIE HENRY | LETTER FROM YORKSHIRE | Moira Douglas |
| CHERYL MARKOSKY | THE VIEW FROM THE GARDEN. A HEDGEHOG WRITES | A.F.Harrold |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | BIG POPPY | Ted Hughes |
| ERMANNO RIVETTI | OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND | Barnaby Googe |
| LINDA TAYLOR | TIGER DRINKING AT A FOREST POOL | Ruth Padel |
| DOROTA GILL | THE GUEST HOUSE | Jalal-Ad- Din Rumi |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | from THE FOUR QUARTETS: LITTLE GIDDING.V. | T.S.Eliot |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | HAWK ROOSTING | Ted Hughes |
| ROBINA ROSE | ENOUGH WORDS? | Jalal-Al-Din Rumi |
| ANDREA LOWE | ON EARTH | Cicely Herbert |
| CATHERINE MCCARTHY | KING LEAR | Rowan Williams |
| PETER HOWELL | SONNET 116 | William Shakespeare |
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | FRAU FREUD | Carol Ann Duffy |
| TREVOR MOSTYN | GYPSY MELODY | Mahmoud Darwish |
23rd December 2008 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | JOURNEY OF THE MAGI | T.S.Eliot |
| LORRAINE COOK | 'TWAS THE NIGHT | Clement Clarke |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | THE CHRISTMAS LIFE | Wendy Cope |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS FROM GHENT TO AIX | Robert Browning |
| JENNIE CLARKE | WITHOUT YOU | Adrian Henri |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | THE HOUSE AT NIGHT | James Kirkup |
| MIKE CARPENTER | THE OXEN | Thomas Hardy |
| JO ROBERTS | A HYMN ON THE NATIVITY OF MY SAVIOUR | Ben Johnson |
| ALISON MYERS | CHRISTMAS LEGEND | Frank Sidgwick |
| GILL STAFFORD | MISTLETOE | Walter de la Mare |
| LORRAINE COOK | COME INTO THE GARDEN MAUDE | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | HOW I BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS FROM GHENT TO AIX | R.J.Yeatman, C.Sellar |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | WINTER | Walter de la Mare |
| JENNIE CLARKE | ALL I ASK | D.H.Lawrence |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | PIANO | D.H.Lawrence |
| MIKE CARPENTER | THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS | Anon |
| JO ROBERTS | CHRISTMAS | John Betjeman |
| ALISON MYERS | THE SETTING SUN | James Hunard |
10th December 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN , LONDON W4
Listeners and readers were treated to a delightful musical prelude from the The Mini Flute Cocktail
under their director, Natalie Simons. The Turnham Green and Chiswick group were pleased to welcome
several new readers to their Christmas reading
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| JILL WHITE | PICTURE BOOKS IN WINTER | R.L.Stevenson |
| MARGARET PICKFORD | DOROTHY WORDSWORTH | |
| JOHN LAVERS | BALLAD OF THE BREADMAN | Charles Causley |
| DAWN BRANDL | 19TH VERSE | Wendy Cope |
| KATHERINE HOLDSWORTH | SOMETIMES | Sheena Pugh |
| KATHY PHILPOT | 40 ACRES (TO BARCK OBAMA) | Derek Walcott |
| CLARE PHILBIN | THE DARKLING THRUSH | Thomas Hardy |
| MATT SULLIVAN | PACKHORSE DROVER | Bruce Forbes Simpson |
| JO SANDERS | AT THE MANGER MARY SAT | W.H.Auden |
| CATHERINE SULLIVAN | AMUSING OUR DAUGHTERS | Carolyn Kizer |
| LSLEY TALBOT | ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH | Wilfred Owen |
| ROGER MORSLEY SMITH | THE OXEN | Thomas Hardy |
| COLIN PARSLEY | JOURNEY OF THE MAGI | T.S.Eliot |
| FATIEH SAUDI | from THE BUTTERFLY'S BURDEN | Mahmoud Darwish |
| REBECCA ROSIER | I FORGOT LIKE YOU TO DIE | Lorine Niedecker |
| ADRIENNE JACK | THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS | C.Moore |
| HILARY NICHOLSON | SONNET 29 | William Shakespeare |
| KATHY HALL | THE CLOUD | P.B.Shelley |
| SARAH HAIMENDORF | THE SELF-UNSEEING | Thomas Hardy
|
PETER HOWELL CHRISTMAS John Betjeman
LIZZY SAYCE THE STAR O'RABBIE BURNS Robert Burns
CHRIS THOMAS HARDY'S WELL Lemn Sissay
7th December 20o8 AT A READER'S HOME IN BATH, SOMERSET
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SUSAN BEALBY-WRIGHT | NOW WINTER NIGHTS ENLARGE | Thomas Campion |
| FIFI AND TOM CHARRINGTON | from BOOK 9 PARADISE LOST | John Milton |
| ROMILY MCNUILTY | IF I COULD TELL YOU, I WOULD LET YOU KNOW | W.H.Auden |
| BRIAN ROPER | THE LAND | Thomas Hardy |
| JANE HILDRETH | A SHINING EXAMPLE or ORDINARY PEOPLE | Dominic Sasse |
| FRANCES-ANNE KING | ARIADNE TO THESEUS | Glyn Maxwell |
| WILLIAM BEALBY-WRIGHT | FLEET VISIT | W.H.Auden |
| TESSA STRICKLAND | STAYING CLOSE | Naomi Shihab Nye |
| WAYNE HILL | CEASEFIRE | Michael Longley |
| VICKY WALKER | STILL I RISE | Maya Angelou |
| ROBIN ALLISON-SMITH | THE NEW REGIME | Wendy Cope |
| MARGARET ROPER | THE NAMING OF PARTS | Henry Reed |
| JIMMY LOWTHER | FUNERAL FOR YOUTH | Rupert Brooke |
| ANGELA VICK | THE GREEN EYE OF THE LITTLE YELLOW GOD | Milton Hayes |
| SUE BOYLE | OLD SHIPS | James Elroy Flecker |
| MERETTA HART | THE JOURNEY | Mary Oliver |
| BEL MOONEY | STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING | Robert Frost |
18th November 2008 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | DIALOGUE BETWEEN GHOST AND PRIEST | Sylvia Plath |
| LORRAINE COOK | THE GHOST | Gareth Lancaster |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | THE PHANTOM WOOER | Thomas Lovell Beddoes |
| JENNIE CLARKE | CHANGE OF MIND | Jack Andrews |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI | John Keats |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | GHOSTS | Fannie Stearns Davis |
| MIKE CARPENTER | GHOST | Cedric Clayton |
| TINA THOMAS | WYNKEN, BLYNKEN AND NOD | Eugene Field |
| JO ROBERTS | THE LISTENERS | Walter de la Mare |
| BETTY CHAMBERLAIN | CORPORAL STARE | Robert Graves |
| SYBIL DAVIES | CLANCY OF THE OVERFLOW | A.B.Paterson |
| GILL STAFFORD | DULCE ET DECORUM EST | Wilfred Owen |
| JO ROBERTS | BREAK OF DAY IN THE TRENCHES | Isaac Rosenberg |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | THE CAM | Elaine Feinstein |
| JENNIE CLARKE | BARGAIN | Pete Townsend |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | ON A TIRED HOUSEWIFE | Anon |
| SYBIL DAVIES | DUCKS | F.W.Harvey |
| TINA THOMAS | EDEN ROCK | Charles Causley |
| MIKE CARPENTER | SOUNDS FAMILIAR | Anon |
| LORRAINE COOK | FAIRIES' SONG | James Leigh Hunt |
21st October 2008 AT HILLCROFT RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE IN SURREY
This was the first reading of the academic year at Hillcroft. Following the success of the readings last
year,the new organiser, Noleen Wyatt Jones, expects more students to come to the joint staff/student
group. She reports that quite apart from bringing the pleasures of poetry to them, reading poems aloud
in a friendly informal grouphas has proved a great way to increase confidence. The recently retired
head of the Access courses presented the library with an edition of Ted Hughes' and Seamus Heaney's
anthology The Rattle Bag, making it easier for students to find poems they might enjoy reading.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SANDY PHILPOTTS | AN IRISH AIRMAN FORESEES HIS DEATH | W.B.Yeats |
| CHRISTINE GRANT | A GHOST SAT QUIETLY ON THE WINDOW STOOP | |
| MARY McCORMACK | SOLITUDE | Ella Wheeler Wilcox |
| EILEEN BRUNST | NEIGHBOURS | Paul Wigmore |
| DORRETT BOSWELL | ATTENTION SEEKING | Jackie Kay |
| NOLEEN WYATT-JONES | WARNING | Jenny Joseph |
| SINEAD McCORMACK | TO ALL THE WOMEN I KNOW WHO ARE HURTING | Gail Wellock |
| LINDA TAYLOR | TOADS | Philip Larkin |
8th October 20o8 AT MR B'S EMPORIUM OF READING DELIGHTS IN BATH
Following the generous initiative of Tessa Strickland and Bel Mooney in getting PASS ON A POEM started
in Bath, we were delighted in October to
be hosted for the first time by an independent bookseller. Mr B's
is a wonderful shop. As soon as you step inside and are enveloped by its intimate, hospitable, intelligent
atmosphere, it comes as no surprise to learn that it won the Independent Bookseller Of The Year Award
this year. It has a lovely bibliotherapy room on the top floor.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| TESSA STRICKLAND | I WILL SHOW YOU BEAUTY | Dafydd Rowlands |
| JANET CUNLIFFE-JONES | MEETING POINT | Louis MacNeice |
| JUDITH YOUNG | SECTION FROM A PINDARIC ODE | Ben Jonson |
| BEL MOONEY | TURNING 50 | Judith Wright |
| ROBIN ALLISON-SMITH | T WITH THE POET | Adrian Henry |
| WAYNE HILL | HOW TO LIKE IT | Stephen Dobyns |
| NIKKI KENNA | SECTION 2 FROM MOONBELLY | John Agard |
| ROSALIND HALLETT | A VALEDICTION FORBIDDING MOURNING | John Donne |
| GRAHAM LEVER | UNENDING LOVE | Rabindranath Tagore |
| LYDIA FRATER | MIDDLESEX | John Betjeman |
| NIC BOTTOMLEY | SURVIVOR | Roger McGough |
| JANE LEVER | AN ARUNDEL TOMB | Philip Larkin |
| LYNN LUNDSTROM | JUVENILE HALL | Prartho Sereno |
| NICK EVANS | from ENDYMION | John Keats |
| EMILY HOWLEY | JACK MIGGER - A ROCK GOBLIN RAVER | Spike Milligan |
| BERNIE HOWLEY | PRAYER BEFORE BIRTH | Louis MacNeice |
| GERALDINE LINDLEY | BE NOT TOO HARD | Christopher Logue |
| SARA WHEELER | LEAVING AND LEAVING YOU | Sophie Hannah |
2nd October 20o8 AT THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, PORTOBELLO ROAD LONDON W11
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| ELIZABETH RUSSELL | WORSHIP THE LAMB | Christopher Smart |
| MAGGIE WOONTON | UNTITLED | Wendy Cope |
| TOMMY STADLEN | THOU ART INDEED JUST, LORD, IF I CONTEND | G.M.Hopkins |
| LINDA TAYLOR | SONNET 60 | William Shakespeare |
| JUSTIN WALFORD | DULCE ET DECORUM EST | Wilfred Owen |
| ALEKA LIEVEN | A PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE | Dorothy Auchterlonie |
| MIKE MORRIS | THE ART OF POETRY | Jorge Luis Borges |
| KARINE CRABBE | THE DOUBLE VISION | Cecil Day Lewis |
| PHILPPA FAWCETT | HOW THEY BROUGHT THE GOOD NEWS FROM GHENT TO AIX | Robert Browning |
| JANE DARWIN | TO AUTUMN | John Keats |
| ZAKIA CHOWDHURY | THE MASTER, THE SWABBER, THE BOATSWAIN AND I | William Shakespeare |
| EDWARD CUTHBERT | AUTOBIOGRAPHY AT AN AIR-STATION | Philip Larkin |
| SUSANNAH TARBUSH | MAWWAL: VARIATIONS ON LOSS | Mahmoud Darwish |
| MATTHEW STADLEN | IF | Rudyard Kipling |
| GILLIE HOWARTH | A WORDSWORTHIAN NURSERY RHYME | Wendy Cope |
| BRIAN LOONEY | SONNET 7 | William Shakespeare |
| ROBINA ROSE | Pope John Paul | |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | BINSEY POPLARS | G.M.Hopkins |
24TH September 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP, TURNHAM GREEN TERRACELONDON W4
| TONY INWOOD | TOAST | Olivia Fitzroy |
| POLLY McANDREW | TO AUTUMN | John Keats |
| CATHERINE SULLIVAN | from ADDRESSING OF CATS | T.S.Eliot |
| JILL WHITE | WASTELAND LIMERICK | Wendy Cope |
| CORAL JOHNSON | RECIPE: HOW TO MAKE A HUMAN | Yakov Azriel |
| JOHN LAVERS | WHEN YOU WAKE TOMORROW | Brian Patten |
| ANNELI ISHERWOOD | TOWARDS FOUR WINDS | Edith Sodargran |
| DAWN BRANDL | BETJEMAN | Charles Causley |
| JANE WHITWORTH | ON A CAT AGEING | Alexander Gray |
| SIMON RODWAY | THE BLOODY ORKNEYS | Captain Balir |
| COLIN PARSLEY | LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD | Roald Dahl |
| HAZEL MORRIS | EPITAPH | Anonymous |
| MARGARET PICKFORD | A CRABBIT OLD WOMAN | Anonymous |
| LISA MANGLES AND CHRIS THOMAS | SKIMBLESHANKS: THE RAILWAY CAT | T.S.Eliot |
| PATRICK HARRIGAN | CONVERGENCE OF THE TWAIN | Thomas Hardy |
| CATHERINE McCARTHY | THE FABLE OF THE MERMAID AND THE DRUNKS | Pablo Neruda |
| PETER HOWELL | BEENY CLIFF | Thomas Hardy |
| LIZZIE SAYCE | THE CORBIE | Sandy Thomas Ross |
| SUSIE STANLEY-CARROLL | BANKERS ARE JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE, EXCEPT RICHER | Ogden Nash |
| ROGER MORSLEY-SMITH | SOLDIERS BATHING | F.T.Prince |
30th September 2008 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
Gill reports that the group had another enjoyable evening at her home, and that everyone is getting to
know each other more. A trickle of new members is being attracted each month too, so now it's becoming
a nice sized group.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | THE DARK- EYED GENTLEMAN | Thomas Hardy |
| ALISON MYERS | SONG AT THE BEGINNING OF AUTUMN | Elizabeth Jennings |
| LORRAINE COOK | TWELVE SONGS | W.H.Auden |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | A CHILD'S SLEEP | Carol Ann Duffy |
| JENNIE CLARKE | MACAVITY: MYSTERY CAT | T.S.Eliot |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | THE ROAD NOT TAKEN | Robert Frost |
| MIKE CARPENTER | INTO MY HEART AN AIR THAT KILLS | A.E.Housman |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE DARKLING THRUSH | Thomas Hardy |
| GILL STAFFORD | TO AUTUMN | John Keats |
| LORRAINE COOK | SONNET FROM THE PORTUGUESE | Elizabeth Barret Browning |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | WALKING AWAY | Cecil Day Lewis |
| JENNIE CLARKE | I REMEMBER, I REMEMBER | Thomas Hood |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | HORRIBLE SONG | Ted Hughes |
| ALISON MYERS | AUTUMN | T.E.Hulme |
| MIKE CARPENTER | PENTRE IVAN | Bryn Griffiths |
| SYBIL DAVIES | FAIRIES | Rose Fyleman |
September 2008 IN A PRIVATE HOME IN LISTRAC, FRANCE
This was the first reading to take place abroad. It was organised by Linda Taylor, who reads regularly
in West London, and who started the highly successful group at Hillcroft College for women in Surrey.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| MAGADALENA | THE ART OF POETRY | Jorge Luis Borges |
| JOHN HAMWEE | THE SUMMER DAY | Mary Oliver |
| ELIZABETH | POUR FAIRE LE PORTRAIT D'UN OISEAU | Jaques Prevert |
| KATHERINE, ALICE, JOHN, RICHARD | from HENRY V | William Shakespeare |
| DORSETT | WILD GEESE | Mary Oliver |
| RICHARD | IMPROVISATION.....PETER GRIMES | George Crabbe |
| MIKE | from THE SCHOLAR GYPSY | Matthew Arnold |
| LESLEY | BLOODY MEN | Wendy Cope |
| HUGH | THE LISTENERS | Walter de la Mare |
| GEORGE | ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH | Wilfred Owen |
| LINDA | OUR REVELS NOW ARE ENDED | William Shakespeare |
| I | ||
26 August 2008 AT THE HOME OF GILLIAN STAFFORD IN BEDFORD
This was the second and much enjoyed reading in Bedford. Gill will host the next on 30th September
and welcomes new readers in the Bedford area.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| GILL STAFFORD | I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS | Maya Angelou |
| ALISON MYERS | NAMING OF PARTS | Henry Reed |
| LORRAINE COOK | LOVE IS | Adrian Henri |
| MAUREEN HILLS-JONES | DO NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT | Dylan Thomas |
| JENNIE CLARKE | IF | Rudyard Kipling |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | LOVELIEST OF TREES | A.E.Housman |
| ALAN STAFFORD | REMEMBER WHEN | James.S.Huggins |
| DAWN COSTELLO | KISSING | Fleur Adcock |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | LEISURE | W.H.Davies |
| MIKE CARPENTER | 30 DECEMBER | Wendy Cope |
| SYBIL DAVIES | from L'ALLEGRO | John Milton |
| GILL STAFFORD | BY ST THOMAS WATER | Charles Causley |
| LORRAINE COOK | IN FLANDERS FIELDS | Major John McCrae |
| MAUREEN HILL-JONES | NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING | Stevie Smith |
| JENNIE CLARK | DADDY FELL INTO THE POND | Alfred Noyes |
| SALLY SCHOFIELD | THE KING'S BREAKFAST | A.A.Milne |
| DAWN COSTELLO | I COULDN'T TELL | Sharon Olds |
| CYNTHIA MOORE | KEEP A POEM IN YOUR POCKET | Beatrice Schenk de Rogniers |
| ALISON MYERS | NOT FOR THE UNCERTAIN | Charlotte Mitchell |
| MIKE CARPENTER | TODAY | Thomas Carlyle |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE LAKE OF INNISFREE | W.B.Yeats |
| SYBIL DAVIES | THE REVERIE OF POOR SUSAN | William Wordsworth |
3rd July 2008 organised by Tessa Strickland, founder of Barefoot Books, in BATH
This was the second reading to take place in Bath. A permanent venue is in the process of being found.
| Reader | Poem | Author |
|---|---|---|
| SARAH LEWIS | HE SAID FAREWELL TO HER FROM ME | Stanley Howarth |
| TESSA STRICKLAND | SOMETIMES | Sheenagh Pugh |
| NIKKI SIEGEN SMITH | STOKER | Lindsay Clarke |
| WAYNE HILL | THE SILKEN TENT | Robert Frost |
| MERETTA HART | THE COMMON LIVING DIRT | Marge Piercy |
| WILLIAM BEALBY-WRIGHT | THE MAN WITH THE BLUE GUITAR | Wallace Stevens |
| JULIETTE BOTTOMLEY | CARGOES | John Masefield |
| SUSAN SHEPHARD | PERSICOS ODI | Horace |
| MARY FINCH | HATE | James Stephens |
| JEFF MANNING | LOVE | Philip Larkin |
| JUDITH YOUNG | THE GREEN STAIN | Norman McCaig |
| CAROLYN FREWER | CAEDMON'S HYMN | Bede |
| JULIE PEACOCK | CANDLES | C.P.Cavafy |
| BEL MOONEY | ATLAS | U.A.Fanthorpe |
25th June 2008 THE OXFAM BOOKSHOP,TURNHAM GREEN TERRACE, LONDON W4
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.
| 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 GR EAT 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 |
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 |