Reading In St Albans Last Night

A reading was held on November 24th at St Michael's Church, St Michael's Street, St Albans to celebrate the Life Lines 2 Poetry CD. Readers included John Mole, Todd Swift, Mary Blake, Martin Eggleton, Katy Evans-Bush, Helen Lovelock-Burke, Daphne Schiller, and the Rt. Rev. Christopher Herbert, Lord Bishop of St Albans. It was hosted by Anna Avebury, and was a joint venture between Oxfam and Ver Poets. The evening was a success, I thought - there were about 75 or 80 people in attendance, aside from the organisers and readers - and the venue could hardly have been improved on - the church is very old, and lovely. I was impressed by the quality and seriousness of the Ver Poets - many prize-winning writers, who have honed their craft for decades. John Mole, of course, is on the CD, and I was familiar with his work. His poem on Steinbeck in Somerset (and his schoolboy visit to the great writer) was exceptionally moving. Katy read well, too. The Lord Bishop, who has rarely read his own poems in public, has a wonderful manner, and his poems were witty and well-observed. Helen Lovelock-Burke's poetry was the revelation of the evening for me - how has such a fine poet remained so relatively unknown? I enjoyed the others, as well.

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IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

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E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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