People who never read poetry don’t write poems that are worth reading – Wendy Cope

If you’re keen to find a way in to reading and appreciating poetry, discover new writing, and open your mind to the world of poetry, welcome to The Reading Circle. Come to OPL’s poetry reading group where we’ll share and discuss contemporary poems (and occasionally poems from the late 20th century) in a relaxed and inclusive peer-led environment.

Questions we’ll be asking include:

What makes a poem ‘work’?

Why do we like a poem? Why don’t we?

Is there such a thing as a fashionable poem? Does it matter?

Can we love a poem we don’t fully understand? What makes mystery different to obscurity?

What might we learn from other poets that can help us enrich our own craft?

The Reading Circle meets on the third Saturday of each month in The Community Works.

Our next 3 sessions will be on January 17th, February 21st, and March 21st and will happen from 2pm to 4pm.

We suggest a donation to attend each session: £5 for general admission (£10 for those able to donate a bit more) and registration is required. Donations are optional and shouldn’t be prohibitive to you attending, but all proceeds go to the running costs of the Oxford Poetry Library and our ability to continue providing these sorts of sessions. If you aren't able to come on the day, please do cancel your booking, to free up space for others.

Facilitated by the established writers and prolific readers Alan Buckley, Vanessa Lampert, and Carl Tomlinson.

The building is accessible, but if you have any specific access needs, please drop us an email at oxfordpoetrylibrary@gmail.com beforehand.

Description supplied by the event organiser.