Poetry Book Society, The Stationers' Company and Time Productions Present No-One Is An Island: Poetry And Music For These Fractious Times

Presented by the Poetry Book Society, The Stationers' Company and Time Productions, St Martin within Ludgate, 40 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7DE, Friday 23rd November 2018, 7.30pm

Sensual, god-fearing, terrifying, uplifting, joyous - poems and music that speak to our essential human connection in these fractious and turbulent times. A collage of 17th-century and contemporary poems and music at St Martin within Ludgate, a beautiful and resonant Wren church.

We're surrounded by examples of disconnection and hostility towards 'the other': Brexit and its fallout, Trump, fences and closed ports at the borders of Europe, and the rest. It has hardly ever been so important to celebrate what unites us, regardless of our differences. Inspired by John Donne's 1624 sermon, No-one is an Island is an aural exploration of our emotional connection to each another.

Emerging poet Raymond Antrobus and the celebrated David Harsent perform their own work and a fusion of 17th, 20th and 21st century metaphysical poetry with accomplished actress Grace Cookey-Gam. They are accompanied by the music of Holly Cullen-Davies and her creative and versatile performance project, Live Junction. Tough and beautiful work from award-winning contemporary women poets - Judith Kazantzis, Ellen Hinsey, Malika Booker, Hannah Sullivan - weaves through the evening's playlist in a combination of poetry, music and theatrical performance which stretches the form of a poetry reading.

This innovative event celebrates the prestigious PBS Winter Choice which is awarded to one of the UK's most important new voices, spanning both spoken word and page poetry traditions. Renowned for his electrifying performances, Raymond Antrobus explores dual heritage and d/Deaf experience in his first full poetry collection, The Perseverance, newly published by Penned in the Margins.

Notes to Editors

Title No-one is an Island

Performance Date Friday 23rd November, 7.30pm

Running time 2 hours incl. interval

Twitter @The Time Prod, @PoetryBookSoc, #NOIAI

Deviser & Director Ian Grant

Performers Raymond Antrobus
David Harsent

Grace Cookey-Gam
Holly Cullen-Davies & Live Junction

Location St Martin within Ludgate, 40 Ludgate Hill,
London, EC4M 7DE
http://www.stmartin-within-ludgate.org.uk/

How to get there The nearest underground station is St Paul's (on the Central line).

Box Office Tickets are available priced £20/£15 conc. (plus booking fee). Available from Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-one-is-an-island-tickets-50067715886 or by phoning the Poetry Book Society: 0191 230 8100

Raymond Antrobus

The PBS Winter Choice 2018 goes to Raymond Antrobus, whose first full collection has just been published by the independent press Penned in the Margins. Raymond Antrobus was born in London, Hackney to an English mother and Jamaican father, and is the author of To Sweeten Bitter and The Perseverance. He is a founding member of 'Chill Pill' and 'Keats House Poets Forum' and the recipient of fellowships from Cave Canem, Complete Works 3 and Jerwood Compton Poetry. He is also one of the world's first recipients of an MA in Spoken Word education from Goldsmiths University. In 2018 he was awarded 'The Geoffrey Dearmer Prize'.

David Harsent

David Harsent is a poet and librettist. He has published eleven volumes of poetry, most recently Salt (2017). Legion won the Forward Prize for best collection 2005; Night (2011) was triple short-listed in the UK and won the Griffin International Poetry Prize. Fire Songs, won the 2014 T.S. Eliot Prize. Harsent has collaborated with a number of composers, though most often with Harrison Birtwistle. Birtwistle/Harsent collaborations have been performed at at venues worldwide, including the Royal Opera House, BBC Proms, the Aldeburgh Festival, The Concertgebouw, The London South Bank Centre, the Wigmore Hall, The Salzburg Festival, the Holland Festival, the Megaron (Athens) and Carnegie Hall. An oratorio - The Judas Passion (music by Sally Beamish) had its world premiere in London in August 2017. Harsent holds several fellowships, among them Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Fellow of the Hellenic Authors Society. In 2013 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Roehampton where he is now Professor of Creative Writing.

Grace Cookey-Gam

Grace first read Music at Birmingham University, and gained a Diploma in Opera Performance Studies from Birkbeck College. Since graduating from the City Lit in 2013, credits include: Theatre: 'Ludovico/Lennox' in OthelloMacbeth (Home, Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith), 'The Warden' in Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Menier Chocolate Factory); 'Melissa' in #Hashtag Lightie (Arcola); 'Viv' in Di & Viv & Rose (Stephen Joseph Theatre/New Vic); 'Agnes' in The Awakening (Jack Studio Theatre); 'Beethoven/David Alexander' in She Talks to Beethoven (Stonecrabs/Headways Festival). Television: 'Ottalan' in Dawn (Pilot for MGM); 'CNB News Anchor' in Tyrant (Fox); 'Rebecca' in Saved (Garden Productions/ITV). Film: 'Old Bailey Barrister' in Justice League (Warner Bros); 'Em' in The Subject (Garden Gate Arts); 'Louise' in Child's Play (168 Festival Best International Short).

Holly Cullen-Davies and Live Junction

Holly Cullen-Davies is a versatile pianist who works as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist and teacher. She studied in France at the CNR de Lyon, before completing Manchester's Joint Course with The Royal Northern College of Music where she was recipient of the Dora Gilson Scholarship. She went on to study for a Masters in Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Live Junction is a performance project begun by Holly in 2010. Using a creative and extremely versatile bunch of musicians they create performances which move seamlessly between a programme of classical, jazz, folk, world and pop music. They have performed at King's Place, The Vortex, Cecil Sharp House and Plush Festival Dorset.

Poetry Book Society - www.poetrybooks.co.uk

The Poetry Book Society (PBS) is a unique poetry book club founded by T.S. Eliot to 'propagate the art of poetry'. Every quarter expert Selectors choose the best new poetry books to deliver to PBS members alongside the new-look Bulletin magazine, full of poetry, reviews and exclusive interviews with major international poets. In 2016, the PBS moved to Inpress in Newcastle and has since championed a diverse range of new poetry books, launched major poetry prizes, a PBS Vlogger in Residence and co-founded the annual Northern Poetry Symposium in Newcastle.

Time Productions - www.timeproductions.net

Founded in 2017, Time Productions aims to build a sustainable, independently-funded business to create a portfolio of new dramatic work and revived classic work, both live and online. The work will strike strong personal chords and resonate in contemporary society. Time aims to build a vigorous, collaborative team of actors, writers, directors, creative artists and technicians and producers and works with emerging and experienced dramatic talent, fairly paid and aspiring to the highest professional standards.

The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers - stationers.org

Founded in 1403, The Stationers' Company is City of London Livery Company for the Communications and Content Industries. The Company has over 900 members, the majority of whom are senior executives in the complete range of trades within the Communications and Content industries, from paper, print, publishing, packaging, to office products, newspapers, broadcasting and online media. They have a strong, enduring reputation, striving to be the most effective independent business and social forum for the UK Communications and Content industries, actively contributing to the strategic development, success and education of these industries.