Born in the Gorbals in 1955, Carol Ann Duffy has been Poet Laureate for the past eight years. Her poems blend humour and warmth with sharp social commentary and are on GCSE and A-level syllabuses.Her work has been garlanded with prizes, including the Forward Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the PEN/Pinter Prize. She reads alongside two emerging poets whose work she admires. Since starting to submit his poetry to journals three years ago, Keith Hutson has had work published in Magma, The North, The Rialto and Stand. His debut pamphlet, Routines, has recently been published by Poetry Salzburg. Mark Pajak, born in Merseyside, has had poetry published in Magma, The North and The Rialto, and won first place in the 2016 Bridport Prize. His first pamphlet, Spitting Distance, was selected as a Laureate’s Choice and is published with smith|doorstop. The readings are introduced by Tim Robertson, Director of the RSL and features Young People’s Laureate for London Caleb Femi.

We are grateful to the the T.S. Eliot Estate for sponsoring and for the Roehampton Poetry Centre for co-hosting this event.