The Newcastle/Bloodaxe lectures, now in their seventh year, are an innovative series of public lectures by leading contemporary poets.  In three linked talks, they speak about the craft and practice of poetry, concluding with a reading from their own work.  The lectures are then published by Bloodaxe Books.

 

Lectures

Monday 16^th March, 5.30pm, Culture Lab, Newcastle University

Cold dark deep and absolutely clear: poetic knowledge as archaeology

 

Tuesday 17^th March, 5.30pm, Culture Lab, Newcastle University

Life is Elsewhere: knowing in opposition

 

Wednesday 18^th March, 5.30pm, Culture Lab, Newcastle University

Flowing and flown: in the world of superfluous knowledge

 

Reading

Thursday 19^th March, 7pm, Culture Lab, Newcastle University

Tickets £6/£3, to include refreshments

 

George Szirtes was born in Budapest in 1948 and came to England as a refugee in 1956. He was brought up in London and studied Fine Art in London and Leeds.  His first book, The Slant Door, was published in 1979. It won the Faber Memorial prize. After the publication of his second book, November and May, he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Since then he has published several books and won various other prizes including the T S Eliot Prize for Reel in 2005.  Since returning to his birthplace, Budapest, in 1984, he has also worked extensively as a translator of poems, novels, plays and essays.

 

‘Szirtes’s position in English poetry is unique, combining a loving engagement with the poetic forms and engagements of his adopted home with direct linguistic and imaginative access to European history.’

Sean O’Brien The Guardian

 

The lectures are free, no need to book, just turn up!  To book tickets for the reading, or for further information, contact Melanie.Birch@ncl.ac.uk; 0191 222 7619.