Programme for 2011-2012
The Poetry Centre hosts an annual programme of events including seminars, readings, an annual conference, and community outreach projects. Those interested are very welcome to participate in any or all of these events.
Upcoming events
Exhibition: ‘Poetry of Forms, Forms of Poetry’ - Thursday 3 May
Two poets based at Oxford Brookes, Steven Matthews and Claire Cox, have written poems in response to photographs by a Brookes colleague, Sabine Chaouche. The opening of the exhibition is on Thursday 3 May from 12-1pm in the Tonge Building, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford. For a map of the campus, click here (pdf).
For more details about the event, contact the Poetry Centre.
Past events
Oxford Brookes Science Bazaar
The Poetry Centre will be taking part in this year’s Science Bazaar, held at the Gipsy Lane part of the Brookes campus in Headington, Oxford on Saturday 17th March from 11-4pm. You can find more details about the Bazaar here.
The Centre will have a stall at the event with various activities designed to connect poetry with science, such as a minibeast hunt, tin can poetry, and readings by the poet Peter Wyton. In addition, the Centre will be running a competition for students aged 5-16, with cash prizes! The rules of the competition are listed below, but the main rule is that the poem must engage with science in some way. Entries can be submitted on the day, or posted to arrive with Professor Steven Matthews, Director of the Poetry Centre, before Saturday 24th March. Professor Matthews’s address is also below. Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form (further down this page).
WRITE A POEM ABOUT SCIENCE AND WIN A PRIZE!!!!!
EXCITED BY SOME OF THE EXHIBITS YOU’VE SEEN TODAY? – THEN WHY NOT WRITE ABOUT ONE OR MORE OF THEM????
WE ARE RUNNING A POETRY COMPETITION TODAY WITH CASH PRIZES FOR THE BEST POEMS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO THE SCIENCE BAZAAR. IF YOU ARE AGED BETWEEN 5 AND 16, WHY NOT ENTER??? YOU MIGHT WIN, SEE YOUR POEM ON OUR WEBSITE, AND BE INVITED TO READ YOUR POEM IN PUBLIC (if you wish to)!!!
First Prize in each age category: £30
Second Prize: £20
Third Prize: a science toy!!!!
In collaboration with the organizers of today’s Science Bazaar, the Poetry Centre at Oxford Brookes is running a poetry competition for schoolchildren.
THE RULES ARE:
There are 3 age categories: 5-8; 8-12; 12-16. Three prizes will be awarded in each age range.
- Poems can be of any length; they can be submitted today on the entry form, or can be posted to arrive before Saturday 24th March to the Director of the Brookes Poetry Centre – Professor Steven Matthews, Department of English, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP.
- The poems can be on any topic, but they MUST engage with SCIENCE; they can be written in response to any of the displays at the Science Bazaar, or they can reflect something you’ve learnt in science projects at school.
- All entries must include your name; address, school name, and your age. A contact telephone number would be helpful (or an email address of a parent/carer).
Winners will have their poems posted on the Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre website (http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/poetry); they will also be invited to present their poems at an evening event at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford on 11th May which will be dedicated to science and poetry. The poet Fiona Sampson will also perform at this event.
POETRY AND SCIENCE COMPETITION ENTRY FORM
Your name and address (and e-mail if possible): .....................................…………………………………………………………………………………….…
……...……………………………………………………………………………………………….............
Your school: ……………………………...………………………………………………………………………………………………
Your age: ……………………………………………………
I, ___________________________________ (please print your name clearly), hereby grant Oxford Brookes University and the Poetry Centre permission to use my work in the University prospectus and other promotional materials including the University and Poetry Centre websites. Copyright remains with the poet.
I also grant permission for my work to be used by Oxford Brookes University on sites external to the University, e.g. Facebook and Twitter.
Signed: _________________________________ Date: ________________
Postgraduate Contemporary Women’s Writing Network presents Women on Women: Nationwide Symposium Series, 2012
Call for papers for: ‘Sisters in Verse: Contemporary Women’s Poetry’
Friday 9th March 2012, Faculty of English Language and Literature, St Cross Building, University of Oxford
In association with Oxford Brookes University, the Poetry Centre, and Oxford University
Keynote: Panel Discussion with Kate Clanchy, Jane Yeh and Sophie Mayer.
Adrienne Rich once stated that ‘the connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet’. This symposium aims to interrogate what these connections between women make possible in contemporary poetry. Given that a woman currently holds the British laureateship, we have clearly come some distance from deriding the ‘poetess’; this event seeks to evaluate recent transformations. From sisterhood and solidarity between recent generations of poets, to flat refusals to call one’s self a ‘woman poet’, there are many themes to discuss at this half day symposium.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):
Feminist poetics and écriture féminine;
Generational influence and anxiety;
The development of twentieth century and post-millennial women’s poetry;
The women of the ‘Next Generation Poets’ promotion;
All-female anthologies and accusations of self-ghettoization;
Relations between poets from different backgrounds;
Female laureateships; the journey from ‘poetess’ to poet laureate.
Please submit abstracts of 250 words for 20 minute papers via email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Please state ‘Goldsmiths’ in the title of your email. The deadline for proposals is 25th February 2012.
This symposium is one of a nationwide series. For other locations and more information, please visit the PGCWWN website.
Those in the vicinity of Oxford are warmly invited to attend a talk at Oxford Brookes this Thursday December 8th by Dinah Roe entitled ‘The Rossettis and the USA: Special Relationship or American Gothic?’
Dr Dinah Roe, Lecturer in Nineteenth Century Literature at Oxford Brookes, has recently published a book entitled The Rossettis in Wonderland: A Victorian Family History. You can learn more about this biography and more about Dinah’s work at her website: www.dinahroe.com
The talk will take place in room 126 of the Gibbs Building at 5pm. Click here for a pdf map: http://tinyurl.com/38j5ukf and do get in touch via the Poetry Centre’s contact page if you have any questions.
