Upcoming Event in May

Back Room Poets in association with Vahni Capildeo present:

Poetry Reading:

Peter Robinson and Brian Catling

with the Back Room Poets

Liz Birchall and Josephine von Zitzewitz

and

Vahni Capildeo

(accompanied by Oxford Improvisers)

Venue: St Mary Magdalen, Magdalen St., Oxford

Date: 14 May 2009, 7:00 P.M. for 7:30 PM

Tickets: £6.- (£4.-)

Refreshments will be served.

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Information on the invited poets:

PETER ROBINSON has published nine books of his own poetry, the latest of which is *The Look of Goodbye: Poems 2001-2006* (Shearsman Books, 2008) as well as a collection of aphorisms and translations from Italian and Japanese. He has also engaged with poetry as a critic and an editor. His own poetry has been described as exhibiting “the urgencies of new creations” (Roy Fisher) and as “some of the most courageous poetry written in English” (Adam Piette). His most recent work has been praised for its “intense but nuanced detail”, the subtlety of its syntax, and its “unconventional rhythmical virtuosity” (Jacket Magazine). Having held a variety of academic posts in the UK and Japan, he currently teaches at the University of Reading.

BRIAN CATLING “has been exhibiting and publishing internationally since the 1970s, haunting zones mostly unregulated by institutions or the art market” (frieze). He says of himself: “I am obsessively engaged in the collision of separate activities that sometimes fuse together in a hybrid event - they being the writing of poetry, the constructing of sculptural installation and the action of performance”. He has published eight books of poetry and a collection of his poetry, *A Court of Miracles*, is due soon from Etruscan Press. He is a professor at The Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Linacre College.

VAHNI CAPILDEO is “one of the most exciting and ambitious young Caribbean writers at work today” (Antilles). Her debut collection of poems, *No Traveller Returns* (2003), was praised for its elegance and originality. It was followed by *Person Animal Figure* (2005), a series of dramatic monologues.Her third book, *The Undraining Sea*, will be published in 2009. She currently lives in Oxford, where she previously completed a DPhil in Old Norse in 2000. She will be reprising a successful collaboration with members of the well-known local Oxford Improvisers group, which was originally launched at this year’s Oxfringe Festival.
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Information on our members who are reading:

After a working life spanning the UK from Somerset to Inverness and Derry to Colchester, that included four years as a Wren air mechanic but then turned to social work and social policy research, Liz Birchall returned to Oxfordshire in retirement and sharpened her pen more for poetry. Her work has been published in several anthologies and a range of poetry magazines, including Rialto, Acumen, The North and Orbis. Her book *The Forest that Sailed Away*, which arose from a community arts project celebrating Wychwood Forest and led by Jane George and Jenny Lewis, was published by the Wychwood Press in Charlbury. She has been a member of Back Room Poets, Oxford, since the group's formation.

Link to one of Liz's poems published in Interpreter's House: http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=15648

Josephine von Zitzewitz is currently working on a DPhil onRussian literature of the 1970s at St John's College, Oxford University and hasbeen a member of the Back Room Poets since 2004. Link to Josie's poem 'Hourglass', published in Parameter: http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnBhcmFtZXRlcm1hZ2F6aW5lLm9yZy9wb2V0cnlfMi5odG0=