Our monthly readings by well-known poets normally take place at 8 pm on the third Tuesday of the month, in the Alexandra Room at the Royal Wells Hotel in Tunbridge Wells, with a livestream for members who can’t attend in person.
Meetings are free for members. Non-members are also welcome, and the entry fee of £3 can be paid at the door. There is usually an opportunity to read a short poem (up to 40 lines) at Open Mic unless otherwise indicated below.
Details of each meeting are uploaded on the front page of this website in advance. The poets so far booked for 2024-25 are listed below.
enquiries, e-mail: kentandsussexpoetry@gmail.com (but please note, this email is not checked daily).
2024
November 19th. Ian Duhig will read from his poetry. Ian’s most recent publication is New and Selected Poems (Picador, 2021). This will be an online event via zoom starting at 8 pm. Members who would like to attend this zoom meeting together, can do so in our normal meeting room at the Royal Wells Hotel, where a zoom screen will be provided.
December 17th, Royal Wells Hotel. Anglo-Polish poet Maria Jastrzębska will read from her poetry, after an Open Mic beginning at 8 pm. Maria’s most recent publication is Small Odysseys (Waterloo Press, 2022). NB this meeting will take place in the Victoria Room, just behind the restaurant, and not in the Alexandra Room, our normal venue at the hotel.
2025 – all at the Royal Wells Hotel, starting 8 pm, unless otherwise indicated
January 21st. Members’ Showcase: Three of our members will read their poetry in our annual members’ showcase event at the Royal Wells Hotel: A.K. Davidson, Christopher Horton and Veronica Beedham. (No Open Mic).
February 18th. Abigail Parry will read her poems, after an Open Mic. Abigail/s most recent collection is I Think We’re Alone Now (Bloodaxe Books, 2023).
March 18th. Rachel Spence will read her poems after an Open Mic. Rachel’s latest book is Daughter of the Sun (Emma Press, 2025). Venice Unclocked, a collaboration with photographer Giacomo Cosua, was published in 2022 by Ivory Press.
April 15th. This is the occasion when our 2025 Open Competition judge Kit Fan will announce the winners. He will then treat us to a reading from his own poetry. Kit’s most recent publication is The Ink Cloud Reader (Carcanet, 2023). No Open Mic.
May 20th. This is when Ella Frears, the judge of our members’ only Folio Competition will announce her selection, after which she’ll read her own poems. Ella’s most recent book is Good Lord (Rough Trade Books, 2024). No Open Mic.
June 17th. Camille Ralphs will read her poetry after an Open Mic. Camille is the author of After You Were, I Am (Faber, 2024), and is poetry editor at the Times Literary Supplement.
July 15th. Ali Lewis will read, after an Open Mic. Ali is a lecturer in creative writing. His latest poetry collection is Absence (Cheerio Publishing, 2024).
September 16th. Matthew Hollis, poet and biographer, will read after an Open Mic. Matthew’s latest poetry collection is Earth House (Bloodaxe Books, 2023).
October 21st. Maggie Butt will read her poetry after an Open Mic. Maggie’s most recent collection is Wish – new and selected poems (Greenwich Exchange, 2025).
November 18th. Catherine Balaq will read from her poetry after an Open Mic. Cat is a poetry publisher as well as a poet. Her latest collection is Deathless (Verve Poetry Press, 2024).
The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society 