The Robin Hood book launch event was held on Tuesday 24th July at the Centerprise Trust in London. There was a good turnout of contributors reading their published poems from the book. It was great to get back into reading my poetry live – since doing radio and open mic events in Cambridge in 2009, I hadn’t done any readings for an audience. It was also fun to have my work appear alongside some major names in poetry, such as Michael Horovitz, and to learn a thing or two about reading to an audience from great performers such as poet and actor, Keith Chopping.
Alan Morrison, editor of The Robin Hood book is fighting the good fight against austerity. Aside from inspiring readings on the night, there was a sadder note to the evening as we found out that the venue itself, The Centerprise Trust building, is on the soon-to-be-closed list. Hopefully enough funding can be raised to secure such a place that caters to both local and international cultures. It would be a shame to lose a culturally dynamic venue hosting a library, cultural cafe, bookstore and venue for spoken events.