Can We Talk about Power?
Dates: Monday 27 to Thursday 30 September
Venue: The Barbican / Online
Tickets: £10 (£15 with a notebook), plus access to recordings of events for two weeks
Book online
Thursday 21 October
7.30-9pm, ages 12+
Book online via Curzon Cinema & Arts
Shara McCallum and her latest collection No Ruined Stone have been taking the internet by storm. Find a round-up of the news coverage below:
In its 'In Their Own Words' feature, The Poetry Society of America invited Shara McCallum to share and discuss a poem. Shara shares 'Husband', and discusses the origin of the poem as '[troubling] the waters of memory'.
"It wasn't by accident that The Mermaid of Black Conch swam her way into readers’ hearts during this pandemic. The Peepal Tree Press publication written by Monique Roffey garnered international fame and became one of the most successful Caribbean books of the pandemic year because it provided romance and an exotic escape from covid19 worries," writes Debbie Jacob for Newsday.
Gregory Luce, after reading No Ruined Stone for review, asked Shara McCallum if he could interview her. She agreed, and so his review at scene4, which labelled No Ruined Stone as 'one of this year's essential books', also includes a short interview with the poet.
Shara McCallum and Claudia Castro Luna are the two poets interviewed this month at the Kenyon Review. In the interview with Ruben Quesada, Shara goes into wonderful detail about poetry, reading and writing.
On the topic of poetry, Shara is generous, saying, 'I prefer the idea that poetry has as many purposes as there are readers and writers than the idea that poetry has any singular role or purpose.' She feels that while poetry 'can be part of the structure of our communal lives', that isn't often the case.
Jamaican poet Shara McCallum, current Penn State Laureate and Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, has been awarded the silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica.
The Musgrave Medal is awarded to those who demonstrate excellence in literature, the arts and science, and is the oldest such award in the Western hemisphere (founded in 1889).
The Institute of Jamaica awarded the medal to McCallum for her 'extensive high-quality work in relation to her numerous collections and accolades, as well as being a nurturer of Jamaican talent'.
English actor Gemma Chan recently took part in Vogue's In the Bag video feature, where a celeb opens their bag and shows the camera what they keep inside. There, among the wet wipes and canvas tote bag, was Monique Roffey's The Mermaid of Black Conch (sporting the rare first edition cover from Peepal Tree).
Gemma Chan has starred in Sherlock and Marvel's Eternals.
