At a time when extraordinary women poets are lighting up the face of contemporary poetry, Poet in the City invites you to the launch of an ambitious project painting the foundations for a new female legacy.

Bringing together artist Claire Eastgate and poets from the project, this special event will be exploring the perspective of women creatives and their role in inscribing each other into history – how they take risks through their art to empower others to break silences on dialogues that are long overdue.

Joining Claire Eastgate on stage in discussion, as well as performing a selection of their poems, will be former National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, who will be reading from her latest collection Zoology, T.S Eliot 2018 prize winner Hannah Sullivan and award-winning spoken word artist Deanna Rodger.

Make sure to come early as there’ll be an opportunity to experience one-on-one poetry readings from poet Lisa Luxx who will be roaming in the foyer before the show.

How the project began

In 2016, portrait artist Claire Eastgate set out to paint a double portrait of Carol Ann Duffy, the first female Poet Laureate in the post’s 341-year history, and former National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke. The finished portrait is a powerful depiction of two remarkable women poets, capturing Duffy and close friend Clarke with quiet reverence.

From here Eastgate’s interest in contemporary female poets grew, and she began Painting the Poets, a series of portraits depicting a diverse range of contemporary women poets, both established and emerging. The final collection, comprising around 28 portraits, will be a unique record and snapshot of the female poets of today, as captured through the medium of portraiture.

Read more about the project here

Listen to Claire Eastgate discussing the project below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E8NDFIfbSw