playforth News, Readings

Charlotte Gann, Christine Cohen Park, Stephen Payne and Peter Wellby – Thursday 13 June

Our next Needlewriters evening will be on Thursday 13th June 2024, featuring Charlotte Gann (poetry), Christine Cohen Park (prose), Stephen Payne (poetry) and Peter Wellby (poetry).

This will be a LIVE event at the John Harvey Tavern in Lewes (upstairs room): doors 6pm for a 6.30pm start.

Tickets £5 (£3 students/unwaged and claiming benefit) available on the door. 

Books will be for sale on the night (cash only please).

Charlotte Gann is a freelance editor from Lewes. The youngest of a big family, she grew up in the town, before going to London (to study English at UCL), then spending a number of years living and working there. Her most recent poetry collection is a pamphlet called Cargo (Mariscat Press), which was published last autumn. She’s also author of two full collections: Noir (HappenStance, 2016) and The Girl Who Cried (HappenStance, 2020); and another pamphlet: The Long Woman (Pighog, 2011), which was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award.

Christine Cohen Park, former tutor on the University of Sussex MA in Creative Writing & Personal Development, is a freelance writer and facilitator of Shared Reading Groups. She has written three novels, the first two, Joining the Grown-ups and The Househusband published by Heinemann, short stories and articles. She has co-edited the prize-winning collection of short stories Close Company published by Virago. She has just completed a fourth novel, Bye Bye Apartheid Road, set in Israel and Palestine. She lives in Lewes.

Stephen Payne was born in Merthyr Tydfil and lives in Penarth, South Glamorgan. His first full collection, Pattern Beyond Chance, was published in 2015 by HappenStance Press and shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. His second collection, The Windmill Proof, was published by the same press in September 2021 and followed, in February 2022 by a pamphlet, The Wax Argument & Other Thought Experiments. Payne is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Bath where his teaching and research interests were in Cognitive Science and Human-Computer Interaction.

Peter Wellby read English at Oxford, then taught in Malaysia, Sweden, Israel, England, Denmark and Rwanda. In December 2023 he won the £1,000 first prize in the Brighton and Hove Arts Council Poetry Competition, having been runner-up in the previous competition. He had a poem broadcast by the BBC and has twice headlined the Eastbourne World Poetry Day. He started writing poetry aged 13, after a student-teacher awarded him 10/10 for rewriting ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, which he will recite at the drop of a hat. Apart from a zanier streak, his poems are generally firmly rooted in personal experience. He has been published extensively online and in print. Maintaining a relatively low poetic profile so far, he now has so many poems in his head, computer and house that this must change.

playforth News, Readings

Needlewriters on National Poetry Day 2023

Celebrate National Poetry Day with Needlewriters poets Charlotte Gann, Jeremy Page, Rachel Playforth and Janet Sutherland at Lewes Library. Our reading will be hosted by Karen Smith and is free to attend (booking essential).

Thursday 5 October, 6.30pm – 7.30pm

Lewes Library, Styles Field, Friars Walk, Lewes BN7 2LZ

More details and booking link at East Sussex Libraries.

Lewes Library is also hosting a poetry workshop with Charlotte Gann and Karen Smith on Saturday 30 September, on the National Poetry Day 2023 theme of Refuge. Suitable for ages 12 + but under 16s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Free, booking essential.

Saturday 30 September, 11.30am – 1.00pm

Lewes Library, Styles Field, Friars Walk, Lewes BN7 2LZ

More details and booking link at East Sussex Libraries.

rhneedles News, Readings

Amanthi Harris, Charlotte Gann, Caraline Brown, Abegail Morley – Thursday 17th June 2021 (online)

4-readers-2

Our next event is via Zoom on Thursday 17th June and we’re delighted to be welcoming Amanthi Harris (prose), Charlotte Gann (poetry), Caraline Brown (prose) and Abegail Morley (poetry).

Doors open at 6.20pm and readings begin at 6.30pm.

The event is free to attend but please do book in advance. If you feel able, we would be very grateful for any help you can offer us by way of a donation and you will have that option when you register.

Please register here on the Eventbrite page.

Amanthi Harris was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in London. She studied Fine Art at Central St Martins and has degrees in Law and Chemistry from Bristol University. Her novel Beautiful Place is published by Salt Publishing in the UK and Pan Macmillan India in South Asia. Lantern Evening, a novella, won the Gatehouse Press New Fictions Prize 2016 and was published by Gatehouse Press. Her short stories have been published by Serpent’s Tail and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her most recent short story, In The Mountains was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and is published in Best British Short Stories 2020. Website: amanthiharris.com

Charlotte Gann is a freelance editor from Lewes. From summer 2018 until Covid struck, she was Editor of Viva Lewes. Her two poetry collections Noir (2016) and The Girl Who Cried (2020) are both published by HappenStance. Her pamphlet The Long Woman (Pighog) was shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Award. She’s also Co-Editor of the poetry pamphlets review site sphinxreview.co.uk, run by HappenStance.  At the moment, Charlotte’s developing an idea called The Understory Conversation – for like-minded poets who’d like the support of a small group while they delve into their own reading and writing practice. Find out more at charlottegann.wordpress.com.

Caraline Brown has always earned her crust from writing. Until recently, it was mainly commercial work, winning a few awards along the way. She has featured in many business titles and was named by PR Week as one of the most influential people in PR. She recently sold her PR business to focus on her creative writing. The Candlelit Menagerie is her first novel, published in the US by Skyhorse Publishing and distributed in the UK by Simon & Schuster. She has been signed by DHH Literary Agency and her second novel is almost ready.

Abegail Morley was Highly Commended in this year’s Forward Prize. Her debut collection, How to Pour Madness into a Teacup, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize Best First Collection. Her latest collection, The Unmapped Woman (Nine Arches Press) explores the altitudes of loss and trauma, mapping the stark new territory that loss leaves behind. Nine Arches previously published The Skin Diary where new skins and old disguises are stitched together. Snow Child and an ekphrastic collection based on the work of the German satirical painter, George Grosz, Eva and George: Sketches in Pen and Brush are published by Pindrop Press. She collaborated with artist Karen Dennison on a pamphlet, The Memory of Water based on a residency at Scotney Castle. Abegail is one of the co-editors of Against the Grain Press. Website: The Poetry Shed.