A brilliant night in Manchester at the Anthony Burgess Centre thanks to the support of the Manchester Poetry Library. I had the chance to ask dozens of writers in the north to come and read and we ended up with 18 poets in 9 pairs, presenting new collaborations on the night.

On a night that had been moved from the summer, and all that anticipation seemed to make it all the more appreciated, by me as much as anyone, that we were out performing again, reconnecting with people we hadn’t seen in a few years. I didn’t miss organising events necessarily, during the lockdowns, but I didn’t think anything of the events but they are great ways to spend an evening, my life even, bringing people together, making new work and this kind of happening most especially, where i get to travel, to see different parts of england, to receive people’s hospitality, is special.

This was all extra, it felt like, and the night had some really excellent works, on available to watch here https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/manchester21

Works from Patricia Farrell and Michael Egan, JT Welsch and Colin Herd, David Spittle and Stephen Sunderland, James Davies and Matt Dalby, Lydia Unsworth and Sarah Clare Conlon, Callie Michail and Scott Thurston, Ailsa Holland and David Gaffney, Robert Sheppard and Joanne Ashcroft. Big thanks to Martin Kratz, Ian Carrington and the many others who persevered to make this happen.

For my own collaboration I worked with my friend and longterm collaborator Tom Jenks. We have known each other for over a decade, written a book together and I think read together nearly 15 times. Our work was a ‘Guide to Post Pandemic Life’ with dogs, monkeys, bats, pangolins and sneezing.