Two of the most iconic and politically intelligent voices in contemporary poetry enter into conversation in this exhibition. Since her death in 2009, Mendelssohn’s work is increasingly being shared and encountered in new ways and contexts. CAConrad has selected poems from University of Sussex’s Anna Mendelssohn archive, where reams of unpublished work form an extraordinary store of Mendelssohn’s distinctive hand-written, and hand-drawn, manuscripts.

Nine new larger-than-human poem sculptures of CAConrad’s are presented with nine of Mendelssohn’s works. CAConrad brings to Mendelssohn’s work the insight of another poet who cares deeply about the shaping of their poems. The workings of both poets construct meaning both visually and textually. This show’s particular pairing allows viewers the experience of meeting, moving, and making associations between these poems in physical space. An accompanying series of readings and events offers opportunities to further think through what these poems are offering up to us.