Oranges. Water. Leaves. Bread. Crows.

Hello and welcome to our newsletter.
This week we’re celebrating poetry in many languages and just how much words can carry: through their meanings and associations, but also through their sounds and rhythms, and the feelings they stir in us.

There is a particular pleasure in listening to poetry in a language we do not understand. We may not know the meaning of every word, but we can still sense something through the voice, rhythm, tone and emotion of the poem. An image, a feeling or an experience can find its way across linguistic and cultural boundaries, translating itself into something felt, rather than completely understood.

There is a particular pleasure in listening to poetry in languages we do not understand. An image, a feeling or an experience can find its way across linguistic and cultural boundaries, allowing us to understand it in other ways.
This National Poetry Day, we’re exploring this idea with Mother Tongues, a day-long celebration of multilingual poetry at our London Poetry Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Experimental Writing School. On Thursday 1 October, from 10am–9pm, poets from around the world will read in their mother tongues, each followed by an English translation, taking us on a journey through different languages, cultures and traditions.

We’ll be celebrating as many languages and voices as possible throughout the day, exploring how poetry moves between them through the act of translation. Far from simply replacing one word with another, translation asks us to interpret meaning, sound, rhythm and feeling - and to consider what changes, what remains, and what can be shared across languages.

With a livestream planned, we’re also hoping to bring the event beyond London, allowing audiences around the world to listen in and take part. 

If you’re interested in reading a poem as part of the day, you can apply via the Linktree in our Instagram bio, or click here. Applications close at 11:59pm on 10 September, and poets must be able to take part in person in London on the day.

We’re really proud to offer a selection of poetry prescriptions in languages beyond English, including our French bottle, Poésie d’urgence, and a range of Arabic-language prescriptions created in collaboration with the Sharjah International Book Fair.

It feels particularly fitting to celebrate these prescriptions alongside Mother Tongues - a reminder that poetry can travel across languages, carrying with it the same capacity to comfort, connect and move us.

The Wonderment: Online Book Launch

How do we access the ever-present wonder all around us? With poems that are both fiercely honest and radically hopeful, The Wonderment reminds us that every moment, from our first to last breath, is worthy of our attention and awe.

On his deathbed, the poet's father said “From our birth...to our death...the wonderment.” His words became a compass for Rosemerry, inspiring a luminous collection of poems that invites readers to marvel at the altar of the ordinary.

In The Wonderment, Rosemerry reminds us the miraculous is not found apart from everyday life, but within it - every moment invites us to pause, soften, and remember our profound belonging.

Join us on Thursday 24 September, from 6–7pm UK time, for a very special evening of poetry as Rosemerry reads from her new collection, talks about the poems and answers questions from the audience. The launch will take place live online via Google Meet.

There are two ways to join: purchase a ticket here, or you can buy a copy of The Wonderment from us, which includes access to the launch. The book isn’t yet available elsewhere in the UK, so this is a chance to be among its first UK readers, and today is the last day for pre-orders of the book!

We hope you’ll join us for this very special launch with the extraordinary Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

Events
Click the links to take you directly to events in 
York, Bishop's Castle, Oxford Street and Online

Join poet Chrys Salt and musician Richard Ingham for an evening exploring the richness and complexity of North East India

Rooted in Chrys Salt’s highly regarded collection The Punkawallah’s Rope and born of her performance at the Kolkata Book Fair and an immersive month in Kolkata and North East India, The Punkawallah’s Rope explores the vibrant textures, voices, and contradictions of a continent both dazzling and daunting. Through layered poems and haunting instrumentals played on various Indian instruments - the aludu, the bansuri, gopi yantra by International musician and saxophonist Richard Ingham.

Expect bitter remedies, venomous verses, streams of foul curses, spite, vengeance & wickedness with readings from some of the poets whose work festers within the covers. Come and drink deep from the poison cup.