'Go to the poets, they will speak to thee': Ruth Padel
About
Curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore, our online contemporary poetry reading series continues throughout 2025.
We will be listening to what poets have to say about our turbulent times, and how poetry can cross borders to challenge, delight and inspire us. Each event in the series is part reading, part open mic – and the theme of the open mic changes every month!
Our next event will feature the award-winning poet, author and novelist Ruth Padel. Ruth is the author of thirteen poetry collections, with her latest being Girl (Chatto, 2024) which was given a Poetry Book Society Special Recommendation. In Girl, Ruth explores the figure of the girl in all its complexity, whilst “listening to the snowmelt / of the patriarchy”. The figure of the girl in William Wordsworth’s writing is often associated with innocence or purity. In the Lucy poems, Lucy seems somehow ageless, hovering somewhere between girlhood and womanhood.
Open mic
Our open mic theme this month is to take Ruth Padel’s title as inspiration and bring a poem that explores childhood or youth and what that might mean. Poems that explore girlhood, boyhood, or other-gendered young lives -- all are welcome. As ever, feel free to interpret the theme widely!
Open mic slots are limited and must be booked in advance. Each open mic poem should be no longer than two minutes. Email Kim Moore at wordsworthreadingseries@outlook.com for a slot. Slots do book up quickly, so don’t leave it to the last minute!
How to book and attend
Tickets are £7.
When attendees book a ticket they will receive a confirmation email which includes the Zoom registration link for this event: please use this link to sign up.
This event is a Zoom webinar and the audience will not appear on screen. If you have bought a ticket and signed up to the open mic your audio and video will be enabled during the open mic.
Five free places are available for those experiencing financial hardship that would otherwise not be able to attend. You can select this option during online checkout. If you have booked a free place and find that you can't attend, please let us know so that we can make this available to someone else.
Automatic live captions will be provided.
Photo credit: Giliola Christe
Location
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