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The three winners of the James Berry Poetry Prize will each win £1,000, receive year-long mentoring and their debut book length collection will be published by Bloodaxe Books. The winning poets will be invited to take part in a James Berry Poetry Prize reading as part of the NCLA events series.
Devised by Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo with inclusivity specialist Dr Nathalie Teitler, the prize is the first national poetry prize to include both mentoring and book publication. It is named in honour of James Berry, OBE (1927-2017), one of the first black writers in Britain to receive wider recognition. He emigrated from Jamaica in 1948, and took a job with British Telecom, where he spent much of his working life until he was able to support himself from his writing. He rose to prominence in 1981 when he won the National Poetry Competition.
Tuesday 23 February 2021, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Free
On February 23 1821, a young English poet died of TB in Rome. Uncelebrated by the literary establishment during his lifetime, John Keats is today one of English literature’s most beloved figures, famed for the beauty of his poems, his lively, philosophical correspondence and the ineffable poignancy of his short life.
Two hundred years to the day after Keats’ death, The Poetry Society welcomes a circle of poets and Keats scholars to reflect on his enduring place in our literary imaginations in an evening of poetry, thought and discussion.
L-R: Ruth Padel, Nicholas Roe, Will Harris, Lucasta Miller, Sarah Wootton, Richard Marggraf Turley, Rachael Boast, Laila Sumpton