Furthering the art of literature, poetry and spoken word
‘The Past Master’ by Patience Agbabi, published Feb 2024
Elle and her friends are back! The 4th novel in Agbabi’s adventure novel tetralogy for middle-graders has been released in Feb 2024.
Patience will be touring the UK between February and June doing readings & commissions at Imagine festival at Southbank Centre, Chatham, Alexandra Palace, Wales, Oxford and more.
REST IN PEACE BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
We are deeply saddened by the loss of the great Benjamin Zephaniah, pioneering dub-poet, writer, actor and musician. A real legend in the poetry performance scene in Britain, he exuded warmth and compassion and always spoke out against social injustice. His achievements and presence helped pave the way for many Black British writers on the scene today. Read more HERE.
2022 and 2023 Highlights at Renaissance One
Winner of the Forward Prize and T.S. Eliot Prize:
Jason Allen-Paisant the Jamaican born and Leeds based poet and academic won the highly prestigious Forward Prize award for Best Collection for Self Portrait as Othello (Carcanet, 2023). Read him in conversation HERE. Poets Momtaza Mehri, Malika Booker and Bohdan Piasecki and other poets were also awarded Forward Poetry Prizes.
Paisant also won the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023 for Self-Portrait as Othello. Exploring the Shakespearian character of Othello as he navigates modern Europe, Allen-Paisant explores notions of race, identity, masculinity and otherness in his writing. As well as a launch in Manchester, we collaborated with him to host book launches in London and his home town of Leeds.
John Agard performed at a number of events and venues, including Bristol Old Vic, Rainham Poetry Festival and in February 2024, Imagine Festival. To mark the 60th anniversary of the Bristol Bus Boycott he was the headline artist of a special WE LIMING event at Bristol Old Vic in April 2023. Agard is well-known amongst readers of all ages for his witty and charming poetry. He is appreciated by many generations as his poems have been studied at GCSE level for decades.
Patience Agbabi read and discussed her poem ‘Eat Me’ at a number of events, you can read the poem here. She also released the 3rd instalment of her middle-grade series, The Circle Breakers. Take a look at The Leap Cycle blog.
Grace Nichols read at events in a year after she received the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2021. Her poems are studied on the GCSE Curriculum which means that 1000’s of students grow up with her writing. Her latest book is Passport To Here and There (Bloodaxe), in which she retraces memories from the coast of Guyana to life in Sussex.
Anthony Joseph won the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2023 for his collection Sonnets for Albert. This autobiographical collection which addresses the impacts of an absent father is handled with ‘honesty, control and grace’ (Julian Girdham).
John Agard’s Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and Other Stories
Beloved poet and writer John Agard’s first-ever collection of short stories, Dreadlock Holmes and Other Stories (Hoperoad) is out now.
Wonderful author Irenosen Okojie shared her thoughts with us about John´s latest publication:
Follow that Word is a celebration of imagination that demonstrates the true diversity of language.
A dazzling collection of over sixty poems, Follow That Word delivers John Agard's musings on people and places from the modern and historical world. A wonderful collection that can be rediscovered over and over again.
With gorgeous black-and-white illustrations from Momoko Abe, it takes you on a thought-provoking journey into the wonderful world of words. This collection belongs on every bookshelf.
In 2022, in partnership with Museum of Colour and Words of Colour, we co-produced the digital exhibition MY WORDS, which charts and celebrates 250 years of poets of colour who have influenced all the culture that we enjoy today. The exhibition includes research, portraits and podcasts, a response gallery of new poetry which draws from objects and artefacts at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) and an audio archive at Manchester Poetry Library (Northern Poets). My Words has been curated by Samenua Sesher, Joy Francis and Melanie Abrahams and it features intergenerational poets covering the periods 1780 - 1840, 1840 - 1920, 1920 - 1950, 1950 - 1980, 1980 - 1990 and 1990 - 2000, 2000 - 2010 and 2010 - 2016. The exhibition was launched at the Manchester, and is housed within the Museum of Colour Digital Museum.
Fred D’Aguiar toured the UK in autumn 2022
Fred D’Aguiar’s latest book, Year of Plagues: A memoir of 2020 is about life, resilience, and art in the face of upheavals (Carcanet, 2021).
Shivanee Ramlochan UK Tour in 2022
Shivanee Ramlochan is a Trinidadian poet, arts reporter and book blogger, and the Book Reviews Editor for Caribbean Beat Magazine. Her first book of poems, Everyone Knows I Am a Haunting, was published by Peepal Tree Press in 2017 and was shortlisted for the 2018 Felix Dennis Award for Best First Collection. In 2022, Shivanee toured with us in the UK, to Bath, Manchester, London, Leeds and more.
Look out for Shivanee’s new book of creative non-fiction, Unkillable and read more here.
Celebrating poet, playwright & author Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
Poet, playwright, author, and mentor Jean 'Binta' Breeze touched many of our lives with her words. With her books, her political engagement, and her warm smile.
Following a period of ill health Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze passed away on the evening (EST) of 4th August 2021 in Jamaica at the age of 65.
Over two years on, we celebrate and remember her impact on family, friends, and audiences around the world on our tribute page.
Our projects combine words, music and visuals to reflect the buzz and mix of contemporary culture. From poetry and spoken word, to book tours and workshops, our esteemed writers respond creatively to themes in society, politics and culture, to develop exciting events that truly resonate.
Reflecting the contemporary literature ecology and 21st century working, we are a team of full and part-time producers, curators, and writers dotted about the country. This makes us responsive, clued up to and engaged with local needs, and enthusiastic about literature across a range of regions.
Want to book one of our writers for a reading, performance, workshop, residency , or another type of event? Or think you might be the new talent that we seek? Write to us or give us a call. We're always on the lookout for new people to work with and exciting projects in which to get involved.