Just sharing some BIG William Blake love on the blog today. Thank you so much to Fitzwilliam team for inviting me to spend time in the museum and with the art and dreams of Blake, we had such a wonder-filled day. It was so brilliant and inspiring to spend time to explore some of his poetry and art up close like this. Also thank you so much to the amazing Storya film crew. Such a special day!
Scroll down for some links and images in front of camera and behind the scenes. You'll find more about these poems and new films on social media and YouTube, sharing pics here for the good memories
Radical British poet, painter and visionary William Blake believed in the power of art and words to bring us together.
Almost 200 years on from his death,
he still continues to inspire so many people today.
Contemporary poet and award-winning author Salena Godden joined us in 'William Blake's Universe' for an exclusive performance of her poem ‘Cathedrals’.
This poem is from her upcoming poetry collection ‘With Love, Grief and Fury’ which will be published 2 May 2024 by Canongate Books.
short film about the making of my latest poetry book 'With Love, Grief and Fury' published in Hardback, E-Book and Audiobook on May 2nd 2024 with Canongate Books. This film shows glimpses of the work in progress, early drafts and clips of places where I wrote the poems and stages where this work may be performed...
short film about the beautiful new Canon edition of my literary childhood memoir 'Springfield Road - A Poets Childhood Revisited' published on May 2nd with Canongate Books. This short film shares glimpses into my early years and some clips of who we were and where we came from. This story is a flashback to the era when oranges seemed bigger and summers were longer, a world of half-penny sweets, free school milk, hand-me-downs and Thatcher's Britain, for those too young to remember and for those old enough to know...
That's 4 delicious new things to watch! Enjoy!
Thank you for supporting this journey and these writing adventures. We have a double book launch coming up as this glorious memoir will be published alongside my powerful new poetry book 'With Love, Grief and Fury'
It's been the longest winter write: I'm slowly coming out of hibernation, spring is here and I'm getting excited to see you all again, book tour is beginning and so here's the first batch of dates below, see you here and see you there...
Here are some beautiful photographs and some memories from a glorious evening at The Hackney Empire. Thank you to everyone who came to the launch of Hollie’s latest book ‘Lobster’ - It was an amazing experience, Hackney Empire is such a wonderful and legendary London venue. Everyone was so lovely and so kind, I noticed lots of smiles backstage and behind the scenes. Thank you everyone, it was such a beautiful audience. I was totally blown away by the performances of both Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen, sending BIGlove to you two super-talented big-hearted beauties. Such a big energy. Magic. Synchronicity. Rousing support and solidarity for Diane Abbott both inside the packed theatre and outside the Hackney Town Hall.
Here’s some pics of sound-checking and mucking about backstage and onstage … oh for people asking, lately I have been wearing my pin-stripe suit by King & Allen, truly exquisite tailors, highly recommend. Photos here are a mix by Chris Beschi and Shaun Murawski. I love the photos of us watching each others sets. It really was a magic evening, thank you. Tickets are now on sale for some of my first shows of the book tour. I'll keep adding here as I go along... please remember to wash your hands, eat your greens and take care, see you out here and in there! Xxsg
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