Guest poets: Hannah Copley, David Floyd
Sun 17 May 2026 19:30. £6. Poets from he floor welcome
Poet and performance artist Patrizia Longhitano hosts Venn Diagrams. She pairs poets whose work has no apparent connection and the audience discovers points of overlap.
Poets from the floor welcome.
David Floyd lives in London and is Managing Director of Social Spider CIC. His pamphlets are Protest (Hearing Eye, 2011) and War in the Playground (Hearing Eye, 2003). His collection, A Night at the Snooker (Hearing Eye, 2026) excels in its sharp observation of the absurd. His social, and political sensibilities engage the reader with deadpan humour, characteristic of his unique style. Floyd is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining contemporary poets on the scene. Hannah Copley is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Westminster. Her research and writing interests include eco-criticism, writing pregnancy, writing motherhood, the depiction of vulnerable bodies in literature and medical textbooks, war poetry and the contemporary creative legacy of Isaac Rosenberg and Keith Douglas, little magazines, the literature of abortion and pregnancy loss, writing and alcoholism, birds, sport, testimony and multidirectional memory. #londonpoetry #londonpoetryscene
A Night at the Snooker is launched!
The launch of David Floyd’s new poetry collection PLUS open mic.
Come celebrate the launch of David Floyd’s new poetry collection ‘A Night at the Snooker’ and bring a poem too if you’d like to take part in the open mic. Wednesday 13th May, 7.30pm UPSTAIRS at the fabulous Walthamstow Trades Hall, 61-63 Tower Hamlets Road, London E17 4RQ. FREE.
In his own words, David writes some poems and sometimes reads them out at events. His poetry combines a dry, sardonic wit and a highly original imagination. He’s a trustee of Magma Poetry and has co-edited three issues, most recently the Performance issue. He’s also a member of the Wild Thing Poetry collective and host of The Poetry Lounge’s limerick competition. David has been working in community media for over two decades and is Managing Director of Social Spider CIC, the publisher of seven local news publications. Many of his poems are on Instagram – go and have a look!
@davidfloydpoetry #poetrybooklaunch #londonpoetry #sardonic
This life of the futurist of the Revolution by his lover, the novelist Elsa Triolet, was first published in French in 1945 as Maïakovski, poète russe. The memoir was written in 1939, nine years after the poet’s suicide at the age of 36, and later destroyed by the Gestapo. Mayakovsky was Triolet’s first love, before he met her sister Lili Brik, with whom he lived from 1915 until his death. The book contains extracts of Mayakovsky’s work – some which has never before appeared in English – in translations by Susan de Muth. #mayakovsky #russianwriter #elsatriolet
Torriano Poets for Peace. 25th January, 7.30pm @torrianomeetinghouse . Torriano Meeting House.
Hearing Eye, poetry publisher, presents the work of A.C. Jacobs, John Rety, Lottie Kramer, Martina Thomson, Gerda Mayer and Carina Berman who wrote on and experienced Holocaust. #holocaustmemorialday #againstallwars
Readers include Hannah Machover, Jane Duran and Dinah Livingstone.
There will be an opportunity to view ‘As Far As Possible’, Hannah Machover’s exhibition of etchings responding to documents in the Holocaust Centre North . Distilled into potent lines are experiences of internment and isolation from loved ones, drawn from letters written by Jewish refugees in Britain who were reclassified as ‘enemy aliens’ following the country’s entry into the war in 1939.
Every Thursday, Torriano Meeting House hosts Camden Friends of Palestine who actively campaign to end the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.
‘a tremendous networking opportunity’ – Lt General Sir John Kiszley’s comment on the Festival of Remembrance. He subsequently resigned as president of the British Legion.
Remembrance - Jeremy Kingston
How true it is, when each year, come November,
we gather here at Whitehall to remember
those gallant fellows we sent out to die,
whose sacrifice we’re here to glorify.
Other Ranks, yes, but subalterns as well
who, and the nation mourns their passing, fell.
Yet there’s no cloud so dark it does not show
comforting silver to those in the know.
One’s gaze acknowledges the Cenotaph,
acknowledges a former Chief of Staff.
Splendid to see so many men one knows
helpfully gathered in these friendly rows.
One looks along the line of eminences –
Yes, the new Minister of Defence is
present, good, we must have a word or two
concerning certain personages who
have something rather good, though costly too,
but likely to appeal to GHQ.
One does, of course, expect some recompense
for all one’s work defending our defence.
One also has to offer heartfelt thanks
to all those subalterns and Other Ranks
who nobly sowed the seed that now bears fruit.
Their sacrifice we honour and salute.
There, that’s the last wreath laid. So now to work.
Battle of Britain. Spirit of Dunkirk.
Remembrance Sundays may be sombre, yet
they offer opportunities to net-
work fruitfully with others of one’s kind:
suggestions noted; contracts later signed.
Throughout retirement moments have occurred
to be of service. – Minister, a word . . .
Stephen Watts is reading at @torrianomeetinghouse on 28 September, 7.30pm.
Hearing Eye has published two books by him and Cristina Viti: Mountain Language and Journey Across Breath.
A two volume book-length poem in bilingual form, with text and drawings by Stephen Watts and translation into Italian by Cristina Viti. Inspired by the migration of the author’s grandfather from the Italian Alps to London, the poem opens into a deep and lyrical meditation on language, memory and place. #mountainpoetry #italianalps #londonpoet #eastendpoet #stephenwattspoetry #longpoems #longpoetry #travelwriting
The first collection of a poet now honored for his work. Peter Campbell was a survivor of the mental health system and a writer, educator and poet. He devoted his life and incredible talents to the pursuit of survivors‘ rights and justice. 60 pages
2006
£6
ISBN 9781905082049 #survivorspoetry #angliaruskinuniversity #mentalheathchampions #mentalhealthcampaigner #londonpoetry #survivorsspeakout #mindincamden #friernbarnethospital #psychiatrichospital
Exiled Angel is the first full-length, comprehensive study of Gregory Corso’s work which was central to the movement of the Beat Generation (Ginsberg, Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, Snyder et al).
The enduring appeal and pertinence of the writers of the Beat Generation derive from the heroic character of their enterprise: the transformation of human life, the liberation of the mind and spirit. Corso’s work vehemently opposes all forms of tyranny and oppression, together with all agencies of repression and joylessness, as it celebrates the persistence and the irrepressibility of imagination, desire and liberty. 104 pages
£6.50
ISBN 978-1-870841-11-5 #gregorycorso #gregorycorsopoetry #beatpoet #beatpoetry #stillinprint
