The New Poetry and Penguin Modern Poets 50 Years
A celebratory day conference and evening event on Penguin poetry and the 1960s
16 March 2012 at the Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol
Conference (includes evening public lecture)
Plenaries: Al Alvarez, John Fuller, Edward Lucie Smith and Tom Raworth
During the day, there will be a lecture by Edward Lucie-Smith, and paper by Geoff Ward. The conference will culminate with public plenary sessions in the evening: Al Alvarez in conversation, followed by a reading from three of the original Penguin Modern Poets: John Fuller, Edward Lucie-Smith and Tom Raworth.
Our plenary speakers:
- Al Alvarez, the editor of the New Poetry, is one of the most influential critics of recent times. Poetry editor of the Observer in the 50s and 60s and advisory editor to the Penguin Modern European Poets series in the 60s and 70s, Alvarez has written acclaimed books on everything from poetry to poker and is perhaps best known for the study of suicide The Savage God with its classic memoir of his friend Sylvia Plath.
- Edward Lucie-Smith is an internationally known poet, curator, photographer, historian, and anthologist, and an art critic whose books are standard texts across the globe. A key figure in the poetry world of the 1960s, Lucie-Smith edited Penguin’s British Poetry Since 1945, a book which introduced generations of readers to modern verse.
- John Fuller is a poet, novelist, critic and fellow emeritus of Magdalene College Oxford. Winner of the Forward Prize for poetry in 1996 and the Michael Braude Award for Light Verse in 2006, John Fuller has also been awarded the Whitbread First Novel award and been nominated for the Booker Prize.
- Tom Raworth has been one of the most important figures in the poetic avant-garde of the last fifty years. A poet with a substantial international reputation, Tom Raworth was awarded the Antonio Delfini prize for lifetime achievement, in Italy in 2007.
Conference registration (secure on-line payment)
- Full delegate rate £35
- Postgraduate rate £18
Registration is open to all
Cheques to be made out to 'University of Bristol' and sent to S Barlow, BIRTHA, University of Bristol, 7 Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1TB
Please contact us if you have any queries.
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The Royal West of England Academy are running the following exhibition celebrating the extensive Penguin Archive held in the University of Bristol Library, Special Collections. |
Evening event - Public Lecture
Organised and supported by the Public and Ceremonial Events
The evening event includes Al Alvarez in conversation, and poetry readings from John Fuller, Edward Lucie-Smith and Tom Raworth.
6 pm, Great Hall, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, free and open to all, registration essential see below for details.
Evening event registration
The event is open to the public and is free, although as places are limited, advanced registration is strongly advised. Conference delegates will automatically be registered for the public lecture in the evening.
If you are not attending the full day conference, and wish to register for the evening event only you can do so at: