News and Diary

24.09.20 - Scheduled publication date for Maskwork (Nine Arches Press)

11.01.20 - 17.01.20 - Nine Arches Press poets' writing retreat, Hartsop, Cumbria

28.11.19 - 'The Fetch' song-cycle premiere, The Holywell Music Room, University of Oxford

27.11.19 - Organiser and host - poetry reading with Doyali Islam and Vidyan Ravinthiran, Birmingham City University

22.11.19 - Appointed Professor of Poetry, Birmingham City University

21.11.19 - Write Brummie, featuring specially commissioned verse by Gregory Leadbetter - BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast)

12.11.19 - Alys Fowler meets Gregory Leadbetter - One to One, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast)

29.10.19 - 'Coleridge's Invisible Religion: A Primer', Romantic Research Seminar, University of Oxford

19.10.19 - Poetry reading at Book to the Future, University of Birmingham

03.10.19 - Hosting Carol Ann Duffy, Keith Hutson, Mark Pajak and Ella Duffy for National Poetry Day reading, Birmingham Literature Festival, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

26.09.19 - Commenced role as Poet in Residence at King's High School, Warwick, for 2019-20

18.09.19 - Poetry reading at the launch of Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, The Woodman, Birmingham

13-15.09.19 - Director of the Coleridge Autumn Study Weekend 2019, at Halsway Manor, on 'Coleridge and the Natural World'; paper on 'Coleridge and the "Poetry of Nature": Self-Altering States in a More-Than-Human World'

22.06.19 - Chairing panel on 'Rights for Writers', National Writers' Conference, Writing West Midlands

04.06.19 - 02.07.19 - Teaching Advanced Poetry II, a short course for Writing West Midlands

14.05.19 - Hosting launch of Primers 4 (Nine Arches Press), School of Art, Birmingham City University

27.04.19 - 'Poets in a Transnatural Landscape' paper, Romantic Walking conference, Keswick

11.04.19 - Filming at Highgate Cemetery, London, for Gillian Wearing's film Everything is Connected: George Eliot's Life (BBC Four)

06.04.19 - Poetry reading with Alison Brackenbury and other guests, St Michael and All Angels Church, Stoke Prior

30.03.19 - Speaking at 'Creative-Critical Teaching' symposium, Institute of English Studies, London

18.03.19 - Public lecture: 'Wordsworth's Idleness', at the Birmingham and Midland Institute

15.02.19 - Chairing Friday night headline event at Verve Poetry and Spoken Word Festival, with Carrie Etter, Amy Key and Jane Yeh

31.01.19-04.02.19 - Speaking and poetry reading at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

11.12.18 - Poetry reading at Phil Thomson's Arts Lab, 1000 Trades, Birmingham, with Roy McFarlane and Deborah Alma

03.11.18 - Poetry reading with Jacqueline Saphra and Rishi Dastidar, So To Speak Festival, Southampton

13.10.18 - Chairing 'Poetry for Peace' with Menna Elfyn, Pascale Petit and Ian Duhig, Birimingham Literature Festival

30.09.18 - Seminar on 'Poems of Faith and Doubt', The Bright Field Festival, Mid-Wales Arts Centre, Caersws

14-16.09.18 - Director of the Coleridge Autumn Study Weekend 2018, Halsway Manor, on 'Coleridge and the Making of Poetry'

29.08.18 - Speaking on '"The fundamental poetic event": Hughes, Poetry and Shamanism', Ted Hughes Conference, Gregynog Hall

24.08.18 - Lecture on being a poet-critic, with poetry reading, at Presteigne Festival

20.08.18 - Workshop on 'Poetry, Folklore and the Unknown' for Moor Poets, Holne, Dartmoor

08.08.18 - Speaking on 'Hare and Hound: Ends and Means in Coleridge's Letters', Coleridge Conference, Jesus College, Cambridge

06.08.18 - Poetry reading with Peter Larkin, Coleridge Conference, Jesus College, Cambridge

13.07.18 - Speaking on 'Graves and the Supranational Poet', Robert Graves Conference, Palma, Mallorca

12.07.18 - Poetry reading with Richard Gwyn, Patrick McGuinness and Michael Schmidt at the Robert Graves Conference, Palma, Mallorca

30.06.18 - Chairing the panel 'Becoming a Reviewer' at the National Writers' Conference, Birmingham

28.06.18 - Performing my new work Balanuve - poetry of the urban uncanny set to photographs by Phil Thomson, with electronic soundscapes by Tom Tebby, at Phil Thomson's Arts Lab, 1000 Trades, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

23.06.18 - Participating in the Nine Arches Press 10th Anniversary celebration, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University

14.06.18 - Hosting the Creative Writing Summer Show, Birmingham City University

30.05.18 - 27.06.18 - Teaching Advanced Poetry, a short course for Writing West Midlands

25.04.18 - Hosting the Birmingham launch of Sean O'Brien's new poetry collection, Europa, with guest readings, Birmingham City University

22.04.18 - Workshop on Coleridge for the contemporary poet, and poetry reading, Mid-Wales Arts Centre, for the Inspired in Caersws Festival

26.03.18 - Guest of the Day for the Housman Birthday Commemoration, Housman Society, Bromsgrove

11.03.18 - Poem commissioned for the gala opening of the new Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and presented to its Patron, HRH Prince Edward

17.02.18 - Chairing Saturday night headline event at Verve Poetry and Spoken Word Festival, with Hannah Lowe, Sandeep Parmar and Pascale Petit

09.02.18 - Chairing book launch of Clare Morrall, The Last of the Greenwoods, at Waterstones Birmingham

26.11.17 - Poetry reading at Shrewsbury Festival of Literature

16.11.17 - Poetry reading at Phil Thomson's Arts Lab, Birmingham and Midland Institute

09.10.17 - Chairing 'Who Needs Nature?' at Birmingham Literature Festival

03.10.17 - Poetry reading at Poetry Alight, The Kings Head, Lichfield

30.09.17 - Poetry reading with Rishi Dastidar at Free Verse Poetry Book Fair, Conway Hall, London

16.09.17 - Poetry reading at Poetry Bites, Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham

16.09.17 - Reading as part of the Coleridge Autumn Study Weekend, Halsway Manor, Crowcombe

14.08.17 - Poetry reading, with Michael O'Neill, at the Wordsworth Summer Conference, Rydal

19.07.17 - Compere and reader at the Nine Arches Press Summer Poetry Party, Waterstones Birmingham

18.07.17 - Poetry reading at The Oxford Retreat, Oxford for Breathe Oxford and Life of Breath

09.07.17 - Poetry reading at Ledbury Poetry Festival, 'Enemies Project': poetry in collaboration with Myra Connell

01.07.17 - Panellist on 'The Lady of Shalott: Tennyson's Camelot' at Bradford Literature Festival

16.06.17 - Reading at Birmingham and Midland Institute, with Patrick McGuinness, Anna Lawrence and Derek Littlewood

10.06.17 - Chairing panel on 'How writers keep going' at the National Writers' Conference, for Writing West Midlands

18.05.17 - Reading at Vanguard, with Rishi Dastidar, Jacqueline Saphra, Joey Connolly, Polly Atkin and Kate Wakeling, at the Peckham Pelican, London

16.05.17 - Guest poet at Ledbury Poetry Salon, for Ledbury Poetry Festival, Hellens Manor, Much Marcle

23.04.17 - Interviewing Alys Fowler on her book Hidden Nature, for Birmingham Literature Festival Spring Edition

11.04.17 - Poetry reading at the Clifton Club, Bristol, as part of Romanticism in Bristol and Beyond, 1797, 1817, 2017: A Bicentennial Conference

22.03.17 - Introducing Valley Press showcase reading, The Woodman, Birmingham

23.02.17 - Poetry reading at Foyles, Birmingham, with Roy McFarlane

18.02.17 - Poetry reading at the launch of This Is Not Your Final Form: Poems about Birmingham (The Emma Press), Verve Poetry Festival, Waterstones, Birmingham

12.02.17 - Workshop and poetry reading with Isobel Dixon, Buzzwords, Cheltenham

15.01.17 - Chairing discussion at poetry reading with Ruby Robinson and Roy McFarlane, The Woodman, Birmingham

14.12.16 - Reading at launch of Milton and the Arab-Muslim World by Islam Issa, Birmingham City University

09.12.16 - Reading at and hosting Ghost Stories Night, by the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing, at Birmingham and Midland Institute

07.12.16 - Reading at Goldsmiths, London, with Sam Buchan-Watts and Abigail Parry

01.12.16 - Running poetry workshop at Headington School, Oxford

22.11.16 - Attending inauguration of Sir Lenny Henry as Chancellor of Birmingham City University: 'Beorma', the poem I was commissioned to write to celebrate the inauguration, published in the programme

21.11.16 - Reading at Shindig, Leicester

19.11.16 - Reading at Durham University, as part of CounterText conference on 'The Poetic'

12.11.16 - Reading at Woodstock Poetry Festival

21.10.16 - 'Imp' published on And Other Poems

21.10.16 - Attending prizegiving as judge for the 'Kubla Khan: Imagined Worlds' Poetry Competition 2016, Taunton

12.10.16 - Launch of The Fetch at Waterstones, Birmingham, as part of Birmingham Literature Festival

24.09.16 - Reading at Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival

08.09.16 - Reading at the Robert Graves Conference, St John's College, Oxford

August-September 2016 - Poet in Residence at Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival - based at Anne Hathaway's Cottage

16.07.16 - Chairing panel on Writing for Broadcast at the National Writers' Conference (Writing West Midlands)

25.06.16 - Reading at the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival, Mexborough, and participating in a panel on 'Ted Hughes and Politics' with Steve Ely, Vidyan Ravinthiran and Ed Reiss

06.06.16 - Reading at the Troubadour, London, and participating in a panel on 'The End of the Page?' with Hannah Lowe, Carrie Etter and Richard Price

04.06.16 - Poetry reading at Stoke Prior, Worcestershire

24.04.16 - Outdoors Writing Workshop with David Morley in the ruins of Wenlock Priory, Wenlock Poetry Festival

22.04.16 - Introducing Lemn Sissay and Daljit Nagra at Wenlock Poetry Festival

23-25.02.16 - Hosting three masterclasses by Jim Crace on the art of the novel, at Birmingham City University

11.02.16 - Hosting poetry reading by Anne-Marie Fyfe and C.L. Dallat, Birmingham School of Art

04.02.16 - Hosting the launch of Daniel Sluman's new poetry collection, the terrible (Nine Arches Press), with readings from Daniel, Angela France and David Clarke, at Birmingham City University

18.11.15 - Guest poet at The Poetry School (Kathryn Maris's Advanced Poetry class)

31.10.15 - Hosting 'Coleridge and Lamb in London: A Symposium', Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, London (keynote speaker: Richard Holmes)

29.10.15 - Reading at The Poetry Review Autumn 2015 launch, Birmingham City University (6.30pm, Curzon C501)

14.10.15 - Speaking on 'Coleridge and the Mystery of "Orpheus"', at St. Andrews University (5.15pm, The Lawson Room)

08.10.15 - Chairing the Man Booker Prize Shortlist Event, Birmingham Literature Festival, Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham, 7.00pm-8.30pm. Sponsored by the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing, School of English, Birmingham City University.

17.07.15 - Performing at Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival: The Shakespeare Centre, 7.30pm.

04.07.15 - Performing at Ledbury Poetry Festival, The Panelled Room, 1.40pm.

02.05.15 - Performing at Gothic in Birmingham, the Library of Birmingham.

25.04.15 - Performing at Wenlock Poetry Festival.

12.04.15 - 'Sum', poem broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 'Something Understood'.

16.03.15 - Awarded a place on the Writing West Midlands 'Room 204' Writer Development Programme.

10.10.14 - Participating in Soap City, a panel discussion at Birmingham Literature Festival on the Midlands' rich tradition in producing soap opera for TV and radio, and the craft of writing for continuing series: 6-7pm, Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham.

03.10.14 - Chairing Voices in Fiction at Birmingham Literature Festival - a panel discussion with Kerry Hudson, Sathnam Sanghera, Lottie Moggach and Nikesh Shukla: 7.30-8.45pm, The Door, Birmingham REP.

30.08.14 - Lecturing on 'Coleridge's Daemonic Imagination' at the 12th ESSE Conference, Kosice, Slovakia.

28.07.14 - Speaking on 'Coleridge and the Mystery of "Orpheus"', at the Coleridge Summer Conference 2014 and, as part of the conference, giving a poetry reading at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Cannington, Somerset.

25.07.14 - Performing the poem 'Citizen John' at the John Thelwall Conference Dinner, The Ship Tavern, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

21.07.14 - 'Descent' and 'White Horse Hill' published in The North 52.

08.07.14 - First public performance of 'Misterioso', a new poem commissioned for Music for Youth, at their National Festival (8-12 July), Town Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

26.06.14 - Poet in residence at 'Twice Upon a Time: Magic, Alchemy and the Transubstantiation of the Senses', Centre for Fine Art Research, Birmingham City University.

25.06.14 - Hosting the Creative Writing Summer Show at Birmingham City University: 6-8.30pm, Recital Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire.

16.05.14 - CAST: The Poetry Business Book of New Contemporary Poets, eds. Simon Armitage, Joanna Gavins, Ann Sansom and Peter Sansom (Smith/Doorstop) published, featuring five of my poems.

26.04.14 - Poetry reading with David Morley at Wenlock Poetry Festival: 5.30pm, Wenlock Priory.

28.03.14 - 'My Father's Orrery' and 'The Fetch' published in The Poetry Review 104:1.

28.03.14 - Reading at (and, through the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing, hosting) 'Beats and Birmingham: Poets and the City' for the Frontiers Festival - with Luke Kennard and Bohdan Piasecki: 5.30pm, Cafe Mezzanine, Library of Birmingham.

19.03.14 - Introducing ICCW book launch for Patrick McGuinness's memoir, Other People's Countries: A Journey into Memory: 6pm, The School of Art, Margaret Street, Birmingham.

26.02.14 - Appointed Reader in Literature and Creative Writing, Birmingham City University.

20.02.14 - Lecturing at the Wordsworth Winter School on Wordsworth's 'Moods of my own Mind' and 'Resolution and Independence'.

18.02.14 - Speaking at 'Break, Blowe, Burn and Make Me New': John Donne and Benjamin Britten - Words into Music', 7.30pm, Recital Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire.

25.01.14 - Poetry reading at the Old University Building, University of Malta, Valletta, at the 'Encountering Malta' Conference.

28.11.13 - Introducing ICCW poetry reading by Maurice Riordan and Angela France, for the Birmingham launch of Maurice's new collection, The Water Stealer, 7-8.30pm, Waterstones New Street, Birmingham. Free event, with wine reception.

26.11.13 - Poetry reading at Poetry Bites, 7.30pm, Kitchen Garden Café, Kings Heath, Birmingham.

23.11.13 - Speaking at the Writers' Toolkit, Birmingham, on the 'Teaching Creative Writing' panel; chairing the panel on 'Writing for Radio'.

23.10.13 - Poetry reading with David Morley for the launch of David's new collection, The Gypsy and the Poet, 6.30-9pm, School of Art, Margaret Street, Birmingham. Free event, with wine reception.

17.10.13 - Introducing ICCW public seminar on 'Europa', 2-5pm, School of Art, Margaret Street, Birmingham. Free event.

07.10.13 - Introducing and interviewing Will Self for Birmingham Literature Festival, 7.30pm, Library of Birmingham.

05-10.08.13 - Delivering plenary lecture on 'The Lyric Impulse of Poems, in Two Volumes', at the Wordsworth Summer Conference, Rydal.

18.06.13 - 'Clairvoyance' published in Poetry Review 103:2.

02.06.13 - Taking up Hawthornden Fellowship.

13.05.13 - Poetry reading at Nine Arches Press/Crystal Clear Creators Leicester Shindig.

17.04.13 - Hosting the launch of the Institute of Creative and Critical Writing at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 6-9pm, with wine reception, and readings from Helen Cross, Caroline Jester, Ian Marchant, Patrick McGuinness and David Morley: a free event, to which all are welcome.

13.04.13 - Delivering the Charles Lamb Society Lecture, on 'The Comic Imagination in Lamb and Coleridge', Swedenborg Hall, London.

02.04.13 - Poetry workshop and reading at John Donne Day 2013, Polesworth Abbey Church.

16.03.13 - Elected Vice-Chair of the Friends of Coleridge.

02.03.12 - Chairing session on 'How Publishing Works' at the Student Writers' Toolkit, Coventry.

01.12.12 - Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination awarded the CCUE Book Prize 2012.

28.11.12 - 'Sea Change' published in The Rialto 76.

28.11.12 - 'Clone', 'A Type of Rain', 'Carnac', 'Seahenge' and 'Γνωθι σεαυτόν' published in Variations 20.

17.11.12 - Speaking on 'Writing Outdoors', at the Writers' Toolkit, Birmingham.

16.11.12 - Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination shortlisted for the CCUE Book Prize 2012.

15.11.12 - 'Clues to the Pochard' and 'Black-Necked Grebe' published in Birdbook II: Freshwater Habitats, ed. Kirsten Irving and Jon Stone (Sidekick Books).

12.11.12 - 'The Leap' published in Magma 54.

12.10.12 - Awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship for 2013.

01.10.12 - My poem 'Sea Change' is awarded third prize in the RSPB/Rialto Nature Poetry Competition.

15.09.12 - Speaking on '"The Snake in the Oak": Ted Hughes, Coleridge, and the Contentions of Reading', at the Ted Hughes Conference, Pembroke College, Cambridge.

06.09.12 - Speaking on 'Taste' at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, London.

23-27.07.12 - Attending the biennial International Coleridge Conference, in Cannington, Somerset, which I help to organise.

25.06.12 - Appointed Director of the MA in Writing at Birmingham City University, and Director of the new Institute of Creative and Critical Writing, launching in 2012-13. As well as enriching the University's creative writing programme, the Institute will provide a major new forum for public seminars, readings and lectures on creative writing and critical thought - bringing together imaginative life and intellectual adventure, opened up to audiences beyond the university.

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