Welcome to The Live Poetry Book Club, a morning summer book club exploring and celebrating live readings from black + mixed heritage writers, curated and hosted by writer Rebecca Tantony.

For those who love nothing more than reading a good book (ones that move us and inspire us and allow us to see the world differently) and for those who adore listening to a writer bring their work into being through performance, at each of these unique events we will listen to the poet read their work in person, then take their collections home to enjoy afterwards.

For our final event we have the incredible Jasmine Cooray. Jasmine is a poet, psychotherapist, and student of botany and herbalism.After spending her 20s oversharing on the poetry open-mic circuit, she spent many years balancing writing, performance and arts facilitation, delivering creative writing projects for The Barbican, the Southbank Centre, First Story, The Arvon Foundation and the National Literacy Trust among others. Inheritance, her first full collection of poetry, was published with Bad Betty Press in November 2023, and was nominated for the 2024 Forward Prize for Best First Collection. She can often be found up a tree, mending a garment, or sending an encouraging voice note.

And amazing muscian Liz Ikamba. Liz cross pollinates musical and cultural influences, seamlessly blending the rich and vibrant sounds of Congo folk music with elements of Jazz and Soul. Groove-driven riffs and sun-fuelled rhythms fuse with soulful vocals, catchy hooks and harmonies, to create a bold and timeless Afro-Soul-Folk sound. Singing in both English and Lingala, Liz weaves together a personal and ancestral story, with songs speaking largely from her experience as a dual heritage woman and artist living in the UK.

10:30 am-12:00 pm, MMI St Agnes. You can book now via the ticket link on this page.

So come, one and all, join us at the MMI St Agnes for this final very special morning of language.

Tickets are just £5 and include a free poetry book of the writer's work and free refreshments.

Concessions available, no questions asked, just reach out

Children and babies welcome, but please be aware content won't be censored and may not be age appropriate.

Made possible through Arts Council Uk and Emblaze

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