Members' Area
Join us for readings from poets Zaffar Kunial and Helen Tookey, plus one of the first UK readings by the winner of The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition in 2015, Eric Berlin.
Eric Berlin‘s winning poem ‘Night Errand‘ “dramatises a cry of pain at the damage we’re capable of doing to others” and is a poem that can “somehow, magically, fill a cafeteria napkin dispenser with emotion”. With an interest in ‘ear-training’ for poets and the rhythm of language in other modes of speech including stand-up, lullabies, and prayer, it’s a rare treat to be able to hear this poet live. He is joined by Zaffar Kunial, a Faber New Poet and 2014 Wordsworth Poet in Residence who came third in the National Poetry Competition 2011 and was commended in 2015, and whose subtle and image-rich poetry is deeply moving; and Helen Tookey, a Liverpool-based poet who was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Award for First Full Collection, and whose work is rooted in place and mythology, using ‘sensuous and strong language’ to explore the very human feeling of ‘always being in the middle of something happening’.
Book now for an evening of moving and affecting poetry with three outstanding poets.
Tickets
£3/£2 and available from The Bluecoat
About the readers
Eric Berlin
Eric Berlin is a freelance editor living near Syracuse, New York, where he teaches “Ear Training for Poets” and “The Poetics of Prayer” at the Downtown Writers’ Center. He received an MFA in Poetry from Syracuse University, an MFA in Sculpture from NY Academy of Art, and a BA in English from Harvard University. After a solo show at Spark Contemporary Art Space, he returned to poetry, winning The Ledge 2014 Poetry Prize and receiving a fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, where he began a book on the rhythm of language in stand-up. His poems can be found in Hunger Mountain, Tupelo Quarterly, and North American Review as well as Milkweed Editions’ Outsiders. He was the winner of The Poetry Society’s 2015 National Poetry Competition with his poem ‘Night Errand‘.
Zaffar Kunial
Zaffar Kunial published a pamphlet in the Faber New Poets series in 2014 and was Poet-in-Residence at the Wordsworth Trust the same year. In 2011 he won third prize in the National Poetry Competition with ‘Hill Speak’; and in 2015 was commended for his poem ‘Six‘
Helen Tookey
Helen Tookey is a poet based in Liverpool. Her debut full-length collection Missel-Child (Carcanet, 2014) was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Award for First Full Collection. She has recently released a CD/booklet in collaboration with musician Sharron Kraus, If You Put Out Your Hand (Wounded Wolf Press, 2016), and a pamphlet of new poems, In the Glasshouse (HappenStance, 2016). Helen teaches creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University.