This event will take place on Zoom. It will begin at 7.30pm. Please book tickets and an open mic slot through the Eventbrite link which will appear on our Home Page around ten days before the date.

Paul Stephenson studied modern languages and linguistics. He has published three pamphlets: Those People (Smith/Doorstop, 2015), which won the Poetry Business pamphlet competition; The Days that Followed Paris (HappenStance, 2016), written after the November 2015 terrorist attacks; and Selfie with Waterlilies (Paper Swans Press, 2017). In 2013/14 he took part in the Jerwood/Arvon mentoring scheme and the Aldeburgh Eight, before completing an MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) with the Manchester Writing School. In 2018 he co-edited the ‘Europe’ issue of Magma (70) and currently co-curates Poetry in Aldeburgh. He is a university teacher and researcher, and lives between Cambridge and Brussels. His first full collection Hard Drive was published by Carcanet in 2023.

Jill Abram is autistic, has Jewish heritage and lives with fibromyalgia. She grew up in Manchester, travelled the world and now lives in Brixton. Her poems have been published widely and she has performed them across London and beyond, including at Ledbury, StAnza, and Verve Poetry Festivals and in Paris, New York, Chicago and online. She produces and presents a variety of poetry events, including the Stablemates series of poetry and conversation, and was Director of the influential collective Malika’s Poetry Kitchen for 12 years. Jill’s debut pamphlet, Forgetting My Father, was published by Broken Sleep Books in May 2023. jillabram.co.uk

Photo by Naomi Woddis