2025 brings an abundance of poetry readings, workshops and performances to Open Eye Gallery. Here’s a handy list of what’s happening.
A Celebration with The People of Anfield
Sunday 6 April 2025, 1pm – 3pm
Since 2023 Emma Case and Pauline Rowe have worked together as artists with people, communities and organisations to develop the People of Anfield project. This event is a celebration of new writing and shared conversations about the effect and impact of the project so far.
RSVP: pauline@openeye.org.uk
Poetry Reading: Eleanor Rees and Luke Thompson
Saturday 12 April 2025, 2pm – 4pm
Eleanor Rees reads from her new book exploring post-industrial edgelands, cityscapes, parks and gardens, estuaries and shorelines, margins and peripheries, real and otherworlds. The selection also includes many collaborations emerging from her ongoing practice as a local poet responding to place and communities.
RSVP: Eventbrite
Felicia Hemans in Liverpool Poetry. Workshop and discussion
Sunday 11 May 2025, 1pm – 3pm
Felicia Hemans was a famous poet and best-seller in both America and England, second in popularity to Lord Byron. There has been a re-evaluation of Hemans’ work in recent years. We will read together her two most famous and parodied poems, as well as discuss details of her life and other writings.
RSVP: pauline@openeye.org.uk
A celebration of A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys, the debut collection of Jay Farley
Sunday 22 June 2025, 1pm – 3pm
Through the poetic and raw lens of a neurodiverse filmmaker, A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys by Jay Farley navigates the intricate intersections of identity, gender, and class. Farley’s poetry challenges binaries, embraces fluidity, and crafts an unflinching celebration of lived authenticity.
RSVP: pauline@openeye.org.uk
Coast to Coast to Coast Individual Poet Prize Reading
Saturday 5 July 2025, 6pm – 8pm
An event featuring the winners of the latest Coast to Coast to Coast Prize for Individual Poets: Sarah Westcott, Will Kemp and Jean Atkin. Poets will each read from their hand-stitched journals. There will be readings, refreshments and an opportunity to talk to poets and to buy hand-made limited edition journals.
RSVP: Eventbrite
Sunday 6 July 2025, 3pm – 5pm
European Poetry Festival brings its unique collaborative, performative and playful literary stylings to Liverpool. This event will see pairs of poets present brand new works of live literature, made for the night, and drawing upon the local Northwest poetry scene as well as visiting poets from across Europe.
RSVP: Eventbrite
Poetry Reading: Chris McCabe and Nine Arches Press
Sunday 7 September 2025, 2pm – 4pm
Chris McCabe reads live for the Liverpool launch of his new book Hedonism. He will be joined by publisher Jane Commane from Nine Arches Press, one of the UK’s leading independent poetry publishers. The event gives a chance to hear McCabe and Commane in conversation, exploring the creative process of editing and sharing insights into how a book is made.
RSVP: Eventbrite
Image: European Poetry Festival
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