I will be contributing to an event in London next week which will mark 100 years since Rilke’s death. I will read from my translations of Rilke as published in Change Your Life (Pushkin Press, 2024).

To quote from the Goethe-Institut’s publicity for the evening: Please join us us for a vibrant evening celebrating Tanzt die Orange —a groundbreaking new anthology that brings Rilke’s poetry into the language of today. Curated by award-winning poets Jan Wagner and Norbert Hummelt, the collection features reinterpretations of Rilke’s verses by 75 leading voices in contemporary German-language poetry.

At this special London event, Wagner and Hummelt will read selections from the anthology and discuss the enduring resonance of Rilke’s work. Co-presenting the event are the acclaimed translators Karen Leeder and Martyn Crucefix, who will guide the conversation and provide English translations of the poems, opening a dialogue between Rilke’s legacy and today’s poetic voices. The event will be presented in both German and English. Tickets £6, £3 concessions and for Goethe-Institut language students & library members. For more information and booking click here.

Venue: Goethe-Institut London Library, 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2PH

Also on the horizon is the launch reading for my new full collection of original poems, Our Weird Regiment (Shearsman Books). This will take place on Tuesday 10th March at 7.30pm at the Swedenborg Hall, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. (See map here.) Admission is free.

The reading will be hosted by Tony Frazer, publisher of Shearsman Books, as one of Shearsman’s regular programme of launches and readings. I will be reading alongside Jorge Valdés Díaz-Vélez and another tbc.