Curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore, our online contemporary poetry reading series continues throughout 2025.

We will be listening to what poets have to say about our turbulent times, and how poetry can cross borders to challenge, delight and inspire us. Each event in the series is part reading, part open mic – and the theme of the open mic changes every time!

Our next event will feature the poet David Morley. David will be reading from his latest collection Passion published by Carcanet in 2025. David’s weaving of Romani and English, his portrayals of women scientists and the birds that flit in and out and around these poems make for an exciting and thought-provoking collection. William Wordsworth once asked ‘O Cuckoo! Shall I call thee bird? Or but a wandering voice?’ and often associated ideas of freedom with the birds he heard and wrote about – it’s exciting to think that many years later, poets are still writing about birds and bird song.

Open mic

Our open mic theme this month is to bring along a poem with a bird in it – whether it is addressed to a bird, a description of an encounter, or if a bird merely flies in and out again – as ever feel free to interpret this theme widely!