Northwest Book Highlights – February 2015

Poetry and music combine at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall on 8 Feb as Harry Christophers conducts The Sixteen: Poetry in Music. The long-contested, and often closely connected, relationship between music and poetry spans hundreds of years, from skaldic oral poetry to hip-hop, beat poetry of the 1950s and the literary analyses of Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse. The concert tracks six centuries of musical history and incorporates poems from the likes of Edmund Spenser and WH Auden. Anticipate hearing some of your favourite poems in a new light.

If you are hoping to avoid the inevitable Valentine’s onslaught of Fifty Shades of Grey (or One Shade of Yawn), but still want to reflect upon all things love and romance – in a strictly cultural setting and minus a sadomasochistic undertone – there is a Heart & Sole literary walking tour in Liverpool on 14 Feb. The tour will be led by local expert Deborah Mulhearn and will depart from The Bluecoat. Expect Liverpool’s familiar streets to transform as you discover some of the locations that have served as inspiration for the city’s lovelorn writers of poetry, letters and prose.

Elsewhere, Denise Riley and Frances Leviston are in conversation at the Martin Harris Centre, Manchester, on 16 Feb. While the two poets are at very different stages of their careers (Riley has been published since the 1970s, while Leviston is a relative newcomer – her first collection, Public Dream, was published in 2007), both have received widespread acclaim for their work. Riley has been marked out as an important contributor to feminist debate with her writings involving questions of motherhood, identity and radical politics. Meanwhile, this month Leviston follows up her much lauded collection Public Dream with Disinformation, published by Picador.

As the go-to girl of spoken word poetry/the ‘voice of a generation,’ Kate Tempest has quickly acquired cultural-phenomenon status. She has recently received a Mercury Prize nomination, won the Ted Hughes Prize and had a sell-out tour. But Tempest’s poetry manages to outshine all of the accolades and hype surrounding her; her poetry definitely deserves to be heard live. She takes to the stage at The Kazimier, Liverpool, on 18 Feb.

Finally, new and old clash as the historic setting of The Portico Library presents new poetry from the Northwest on 26 Feb. In conjunction with North West Poets, this evening will welcome Andrew Foster, literature officer at the Wordsworth Trust, as he launches his third collection, Homecoming, and Helen Mort, who has been labelled ‘a new star’ of the poetry world. Go along and support two of the best poets from the local scene!