Poetry Collection Launch. Empires of Clay by Becky Cherriman, 7pm, Tuesday 8th November at the Leeds Library

empires-draft-2Confident, deft and inventive, Empires of Clay is the first full-length collection from performer, poet and community activist, Becky Cherriman. Taking us into a world that is at once anchored and real, yet never predictable or what it seems, these poems are alive with surprising moments. So a doctor collects droplets from a couple making love in the shower ‘for tinctures and ointments, / cures for lonely hearts / and hopelessness’, whilst a mother and daughter share ‘a Eucharist of grain and fruit’. Spanning territory from self-harming to single motherhood, from austerity to living with wolves, these are a vibrant, evocative and challenging poems that resonate long after reading, impressing their distinctive and humane narratives onto us.

Becky will be joined by poet Steve Ely for the launch of Empires of Clay at 7pm  on Tuesday  8th November at the Leeds Library. This is a free event but please register your attendance by emailing enquiries@theleedslibrary.org.uk or telephone 0113 245 3071.

dsc_0055-1Becky Cherriman is a writer, workshop leader and performer based in Leeds. Published by Mslexia, New Walk, Envoi, Mother’s Milk, Bloodaxe, Well Versed and in Poets For Corbyn, she was resident poet for Morley Literature Festival in 2013. This year Becky co-wrote and performed in Haunt, an Imove site-specific theatre commission and project that worked with people experiencing homelessness in Harrogate. She frequently collaborates with communities to help them tell their stories and was lead artist for Altofts Festival In A Day. Current work includes Alice In Bloomers, an Arts Council and Leeds Inspired funded project inspired by historical Morley woman, Alice Cliff Scatcherd.

Becky’s first poetry pamphlet Echolocation, on the theme of mothering, was published this year by Mother’s Milk. Empires of Clay is her first poetry collection and is published by Cinnamon Press.

Becky’s photo is by Layla Legard.

ely_0096-copySteve Ely has written three books of poetry, Oswald’s Book of Hours, Englalandand Werewolf .  He’s also written a novel, Ratmen, and his biographical work about the early years of the former poet laureate, Ted Hughes’s South Yorkshire: Made in Mexborough, was published in 2015.  He teaches Creative Writing for the Poetry School, in community settings and at Huddersfield University.

 

 

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