Clare Best has published a ground-breaking prose memoir The Missing List (Linen Press 2018) three full collections of poetry and various pamphlets and collaborative works. Her first full collection Excisions (Waterloo 2011) was a finalist for the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize. The London Magazine said of her third collection Beyond the Gate (Worple Press 2023): ‘With this book Best reaches a level of poetic achievement that places her amongst the first rank of poets at work in the English language.’ She is currently writing in response to a family archive and working on several collaborative projects with musicians and visual artists. New work has appeared recently in Finished Creatures, 14 Magazine, and Poetry Salzburg Review.
Clare is an Associate Lecturer with The Open University and a Tutor for The Arvon Foundation. In 2021, whilst holding a Fellowship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she wrote libretti for operas with composers Amy Crankshaw and Michael Bascom. She lives in East Suffolk, England.
The first half of this event will be open mic, so please feel free to bring and read a poem in a friendly and welcoming space.
Tickets can be bought in advance or on the door:
Entry prices: £5; £3 for students under 24; Free to ages 18 and under.