An Evening with Clare Shaw

Our contemporary poetry reading series ‘Go to the poets, they will speak to thee’ is running throughout 2022, curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore. 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 month! 

In the poem ‘Michael’, William Wordsworth writes that ‘There is a comfort in the strength of love; / ’Twill make a thing endurable, which else / Would overset the brain, or break the heart’. Our guest poet this month is Clare Shaw, someone who we think would also align themselves to this philosophy. Their fourth poetry collection Towards a General Theory of Love (Bloodaxe, 2022) is an examination of love in all its complexity – the love between lovers, between friends and between children and parents, and what happens when love is no longer there. 

Our open mic theme this month then has to be ‘love’ - please feel free to interpret this theme widely!  

Open mic slots are limited and must be booked in advance. Each open mic poem should be no longer than two minutes. Email Kim Moore at wordsworthreadingseries@outlook.com for a spot. (Open mic is now full.)

How to book and attend

Please read our guide to booking and attending online events before you purchase a ticket.

This event is a Zoom Webinar and the audience will not appear on screen. If you have bought a ticket and signed up to the open mic your audio and video will be enabled during the open mic.

Five free tickets are available for each session for those experiencing financial hardship that would otherwise not be able to attend. This is on a first come first served basis with no questions asked about your situation. Please email Hannah at h.catterall@wordsworth.org.uk.

Live captions will be provided by Otter.ai