We are delighted to welcome the award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus to Sevenoaks this August to discuss his new book, The Quiet Ear, a groundbreaking exploration of deafness!
- Date: Friday 29 August
- Time: 7pm
- Venue: The Drive Methodist Church
'I've been a fan of Raymond's writing since The Perseverance and The Quiet Ear sees his voice take yet another leap. Ray writes with incredible tenderness and curiosity, writing about deafness in a way that is generous, expansive and, most importantly, honest. Ray's incredible capacity for documenting the interior is on full show here, traversing not just his griefs and losses but his hopes and joys too. This book left me transformed.' Caleb Azumah Nelson
'The finest words from one of the finest poets. He gives true and new meaning to the term 'finding his voice' . . . If you want to experience what it is like to be an outsider on the inside or an insider on the outside, read The Quiet Ear. Lean in to The Quiet Ear. Listen' Lemn Sissay
Raymond Antrobus
Raymond Antrobus is the author of three poetry titles: The Perseverance, All The Names Given and Signs, Music; and two children's books: Can Bears Ski? And Terrible Horses. His work has won the Ted Hughes Award, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and his poems have been added to GCSE syllabi. In 2019 Raymond became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbones Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2020 and appointed an MBE in 2021. The Quiet Ear is his first work of prose.
The Quiet Ear
A memoir. A cultural history. A call to action.
The Quiet Ear tells the story of Raymond's upbringing at the intersection of race and disability. Growing up in East London to an English mother and Jamaican father, educated in both mainstream and deaf schooling systems, Raymond explores the shame of miscommunication, the joy of finding community and shines a light on the decline of deaf education in Britain.
