Dead [Women] Poets Séance: Sophie Herxheimer & Clare Pollard resurrect Amy Levy & Christina Rossetti (In person)
slovenly needlewomen, (all
our sewing came apart), dancers,
players upon pipes: we have been
the queens of the whole world!
- Marina Tsvetaeva, tr. Elaine Feinstein
Who are the Dead Women Poets? How dead are they? And what is our relationship to them, as contemporary writers, artists, ‘queens of the whole world’?
Join us as we join forces with Dead [Women] Poets Society, who, since 2015, have been resurrecting women and non-binary poets of the past. At The London Library – the perfect venue for resurrecting the ghosts of poets past – our spooky poet-mediums Sophie Herxheimer and Clare Pollard will commune with the spirits of Amy Levy and Christina Rossetti, two subversive, darkly imaginative, outsider Victorian poets (whose friends and family once wandered the Library stacks). We’ll hear more about their lives and works, and the influence they’ve had on our two living poets. We’ll also be treated to readings by our poet-necromancers, haunted by the ghosts of these two dead women poets and all will be compered by poet Helen Bowell of the D[W]PS.
The resurrections will continue with the popular Dead [Women] Poets Society open mic, for which we welcome poets and performers of all and no genders to the stage. The only rule: for every poem of your own, you should also read/perform one by a dead woman or non-binary poet.
There'll also be the chance to get your hands on books by our guest poets, dead poets and D[W]PS merch.
Learning from Dead [Women] Poets: Poetry Workshop - Clare Pollard will be teaching a poetry workshop, inspired by dead women poets, which will take place at the Library from 3.30-5.30pm the same day. If you book for the workshop, you'll receive a 65% discount on tickets for the séance. To book for both and to receive the discount, please book through the workshop listing.
Sophie Herxheimer is an artist and poet. Her art has been shown at the National Portrait Gallery, The Museum of Liverpool and Tate Modern. Her collection Velkom to Inklandt was a Sunday Times book of the year. 60 Lovers to Make and Do was a TLS book of the year and INDEX is a boxed deck of 78 prophetic collage poem cards. Her latest book, Ode to Joy, (in collaboration with film maker Sarah Gavron) combines drawing, writing and collage to create a new type of graphic novel.
Clare Pollard’s sixth collection of poetry with Bloodaxe is Lives of the Female Poets. Her poem ‘Pollen’ was shortlisted for the Forward Prize. She translated Ovid’s Heroines for Bloodaxe, which she toured as a one-woman show. Her play The Weather was performed at the Royal Court Theatre, she wrote the non-fiction title Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Picture Books, her adult novels are Delphi and The Modern Fairies, which won the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize and her latest children’s novel is The Othernauts.
Helen Bowell is a poet, producer, workshop facilitator and co-director of Dead [Women] Poets Society writer. Helen’s debut pamphlet The Barman was published by Bad Betty Press in 2022 and was selected as the Poetry Book Society Summer 2022 Pamphlet Choice.
Our events programme is presented in partnership with Hakluyt & Company, the global strategic advisory firm for businesses and investors.
Books by the speakers and resurrected poets will be available to buy at the event and online from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
This event will take place in person in the New Room at The London Library. Doors (and the bar) will open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive.
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