SHEFFIELD: Oxfam Poetry Night

Wednesday, 15th July, 2009, 6.30pm-9pm, £2.50 donation on the door and free poetry CD
Oxfam Bookshop
West St / Glossop Rd
Sheffield

Oxfam Poetry Night, featuring four Sheffield poets: Frances Leviston, Chris Jones, Helen Mort, and Ben Wilkinson.

Frances Leviston was born in Edinburgh in 1982 and later moved to Sheffield. She read English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and has an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam University. A pamphlet of her work, Lighter, was published in 2004 by Mews Press, and became the PBS Bulletin's Pamphlet Choice for Spring 2005. Her poems have appeared in various magazines and anthologies including New Writing 14, Poetry Review, Poetry London, Ten Hallam Poets and the TLS. She received an Eric Gregory Award in 2006, and her first collection, Public Dream, was published by Picador in 2007. It was shortlisted for both the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize.

Chris Jones was awarded an Eric Gregory Award in 1996. From 1997 to 1999 he worked as the writer in residence at Nottingham Prison. A pamphlet collection entitled Hard on the Knuckle was published by Smith/Doorstop in 1993. He has recently put together a sequence of poems (At the End of the Road, a River) that explores the trajectory of the River Don as it curves through Sheffield. A full-length collection, The Safe House, was published by Shoestring Press in 2007. He lives in Sheffield, working as a freelance writer, teacher and arts administrator.

Helen Mort was born in Sheffield and lives in Cambridge. Her pamphlet, The Shape of Every Box, was published by Tall-Lighthouse in 2007, the same year she received an Eric Gregory Award. A winner of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award on five occasions between 1997 and 2004, Helen has published work in Poetry London, The Rialto, Dreamcatcher and the Times Educational Supplement. She was winner of the Manchester Poetry Prize in 2008 and is currently working on a new pamphlet and accompanying poetry show, A Pint for the Ghost.

Ben Wilkinson was born in Stafford in 1985 and now lives in Sheffield. His poems have appeared in publications including Poetry Review, Poetry London, Magma, Stand and the Times Literary Supplement. He also regularly reviews poetry for many of these publications and writes critical perspectives of poets for the British Council's Contemporary Writers database. He recently read his work at this year's StAnza, Scotland's international poetry festival, and his first pamphlet of poems, The Sparks, was published last year as part of Tall-Lighthouse's Pilot series, showcasing the best poets under 30 yet to publish a collection.