& more ...

Further events featuring 57's writers & performers are being planned all the time - including Neil Rollinson - whose new book 'Demolition' has just appeared from Cape; Paul Farley - whose work appears on the iPoems and Video Jukebox systems; Zena Edwards (57's nomination for an Arts Foundation Fellowship for 2006); Mark Gwynne Jones (whose new album has just appeared from Route); plus much more t.b.a. -

57 touring programme for the UK & abroad for 2007 – featured:

Linton Kwesi Johnson - the internationally acclaimed poet & reggae artist will be undertaking his first UK tour for over 5 years - marking his new collection from Penguin – ‘Selected Poems’ – Autumn 2007

Brian Patten - the popular poet & performer will be touring the UK throughout 2007 marking the publication of two monumental new books - the ‘Selected Poems’ (Penguin) & the ‘Collected Love Poems’ (Harper Perennial) – due out in Spring 2007

Jena ‘Binta’ Breeze - will be touring the UK & internationally - promoting her new publication ‘The Fifth Figure’ (Bloodaxe) & engaging in an extensive media programme throughout 2007

Adrian Mitchell - ‘the dogfather’ of performance poetry will be taking on selected dates in the UK & abroad promoting his recent collections ‘The Shadow Knows’ (Bloodaxe) & for children ‘Daft as a Doughnut’ (Orchard)

Plus extensive performance & media programmes featuring
Patience Agbabi & Courttia Newland among many other artists


57's writers & performers made special appearances throughout 2005, further highlights of which included:

Courttia Newland was in Moscow & Sochi 13-20 March 2005, working with the British Council on 'The Road' - a project involving writers from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, Romania & Russia - works which will appear on a new website entitled 'The Road Quilt', he also holds residence at Birbeck College, London up until Summer & then an Autumn residency at Trinity College, Dublin. Also in Autumn - Courttia co-runs a fiction course at The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Yorkshire & contributes to the 'White Open Spaces' project - commissioned by Pentabus Theatre & hosted by The John Osbourne Arvon Centre, Shropshire. Courttia's new play - Whistling Maggie - opens at the Oval House, London on the 29th of November

Zena Edwards will be making special appearances in the UK & internationally. She appears in a new show for young people entitled 'Broken Words' promoted by Apples & Snakes, & she has written new lyrics for NITRO's production 'SlamDunk'. She has also been commissioned to write & perform for BBC Radio 4's 'Bloodlines' production as part of the Africa 2005 programme - to be broadcast in Summer. For Autumn - Zena visits the Musicport Festival, Whitby & is writer-in-residence for the Word About Town Festival, Hastings. Zena is also 57's nomination for an Arts Foundation award, to be announced on the 1st of December

Merle Collins, the distinguished Grenadan poet & novelist, makes a special appearance in the UK during October 2005, taking in selected dates, including:

Oct. 6th: Walsall Library

Oct. 10th: Camden Library

Oct. 13th: Sheffield 'Off the Shelf' Literature Festival

with more t.b.a.


Other highlights of 2005 so far include:

April 26th: Kamau Brathwaite makes a rare UK appearance at Trinity College, Cambridge. Kamau will be in the UK until mid-Summer & then returns for a brief spell in Autumn, with more t.b.a.

May 10th: Launch of 'A Meeting of the Continents: The International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books' - Camden Council Chambers, London - with Jean 'Bint' Breeze, Zena Edwards, Roxy Harris, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Parm Kaur, Couttia Newland, Lawrence Scott & Keith Waithe

Dec. 8th: 57 proudly premieres a 7 x minute film of Michael Donaghy
at a special evening celebrating the poets memory - the Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London - please see Links for more information


Highlights of 2004 included:

Zena Edwards: in residence at The Poetry Cafe, plus a series of special performances - taking in recordings for defpoetryjam in New York, & work around the new SlamDunk production - as lyricist for NITRO. Summer sees special performances at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham & at Womad, Reading. In Autumn Zena visits Switzerland & Berlin - the latter as part of the British Council 'Literature & Music' programme


A special screening of Poetry Against War - as part of the Word About Town Festival progamme at the Electric Palace Cinema, Hastings in September - a film of the event of the 14th of February 2003 at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London – featuring Benjamin Zephaniah, Tony Harrison, Sarah Maguire, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Adrian Mitchell, Mahmood Jamal & Michael Rosen - also see Media


Kamau Brathwaite: the distinguished Bajan poet & scholar takes in a special series of dates, including:

Sept. 11th: South Bank, London - for Wasafiri Magazine
Sept. 21st: Lincoln
Sept. 26th: Manchester
Sept. 27th: Lancaster


Lorna Goodison: the renowned Jamaican poet will be making a rare tour of the UK, including the following dates:

Nov. 4th: University of Leeds - for Wasafiri Magazine
Nov. 5th: Lincoln
Nov. 7th: Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea
Nov. 8th: Willesden Green Library, London
Nov. 9th: University of Birmingham
Nov. 10th: Poetry Society, London


Matthew Sweeney: performing work from the new book (due out in Autumn from Cape), taking in dates including:

Oct. 17th: Bristol Poetry Festival - with Liz Lochhead

57 also visits Bristol Poetry Festival with a special programme on:

Oct. 10th: with Neil Rollinson & Stacy Makishi

Mark Gwynne Jones: working on new commissions, multi-media projects & making his debut with the Arvon Foundation

with much more t.b.a.



Highlights of Autumn 2003 also included:

Valerie Bloom: Sept 28th, The Word, Polka Children's Theatre - as part of a fantastic programme of writers & performers, including Michael Rosen

Matthew Sweeney: Oct 6th, Rye Library, East Sussex

Michael Donaghy: Oct 9th, National Poetry Day (NPD), Beverley Literature Festival, Yorkshire

Mark Gwynne Jones: Oct 9th, Derby Central Library - as part of a special NPD programme

Matthew Sweeney: Oct 11th, Beverley Literature Festival

Dorothea Smartt: Oct 22nd, as part of Camden's Black History Month programme

Mark Gwynne Jones: Nov 13th, Cheshire, Teachers Conference

Zena Edwards: Nov 22nd, The Verb, BBC Radio 3 Broadcast - as part of London Jazz Festival