SoPo New Year New Words

Contact: www.elmwood.co.uk/sopo/speakers.php

with Julia Bird, James Wilkes and Hugo Williams

Hugo Williams was born in 1942 to Hugh Williams, the well-known actor, and Margaret Vyner, a haute couture model namechecked in a Cole Porter song. Laurence Olivier telegrammed his congratulations. Hugo was educated at Eton and had his first poems published in the London Magazine while still a schoolboy.

He won an Eric Gregory award in 1966 for his first collection, the 1999 TS Eliot prize for Billy's Rain, a chronicle of a love affair, and the Queen's gold medal for poetry in 2004. . His latest collection, West End Final, was shortlisted for the Forward Best Collection and is in the running for the 2009 TS Eliot prize. In 1965, Hugo married Hermine Demoriane, a trapeze artist and writer who is now President of a non-profit organisation offering artists' residencies in France. They have one daughter.

Julia Bird grew up in Gloucestershire and now lives in south London. She studied English Language & Literature at Reading University and has an M.A. in Creative Writing & Education from the University of Sussex. Her first job (after the summers spent behind the till of a pick & mix sweetshop) was in an arts centre in the Cotswolds.
She moved to London in 1997 to work for the Poetry Book Society for eight years before moving to the Poetry School part-time and setting up a small independent literature promotion company, Jaybird. She has managed UK-wide author tours for the British Council and the Poetry Translation Centre. Julia also produces live literature tours. Her collection, Hannah and the Monk, was published by Salt in 2008.

James Wilkes's most recent poetry collection, Weather A System, was published in November by Penned in the Margins. Mixing found texts, scripts, ephemera and imaginary reviews, these poems capture contemporary shifts of weather, power and fashion with a dark and energetic wit. Born in Dorset in 1980, James studied Psychology and Philosophy followed by an MA in Creative Writing before moving to Japan to teach English. Since returning to London, he has written arts criticism and radio drama and comedy, and is studying for a PhD at the London Consortium. His work has been anthologised in City State: New London Poetry, Generation Txt and Veer Off. Previous publications include Ex Chaos and A DeTour (both Renscombe Press, 2006) and Reviews (Burner Veer, 2009).

Price: £7.50

Time: 6.00 for 7.00pm