Jessica Mookherjee
Jessica grew up in Mumbles, Swansea. She is widely published author of 2 full collections, Flood (Cultured Llama) and Tigress (Nine Arches Press). Tigress was Shortlisted for best second collection in the Ledbury Munthe Prize 2021. She has been twice highly commended in the Forward Prize for best single poem and her work is included in notable anthologies such as ‘Staying Human’ (Bloodaxe). Her latest pamphlet is Playlists (Broken Sleep Books). Her third book from Nine Arches Press is “Notes from a Shipwreck” and will be published in August 2022. She is a co-editor of Against the Grain Press and a board member of the Poetry Society. Her poetry has been described by Gillian Clarke as “Bold, fiery and truthful”.
Rhian Edwards
Rhian is a multi-award winning poet. Her first collection of poems Clueless Dogs (Seren) won Wales Book of the Year 2013, the Roland Mathias Prize for Poetry 2013 and Wales Book of the Year People’s Choice 2013. It was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2012.
Her pamphlet of poems, Parade the Fib (Tall-Lighthouse), was awarded the Poetry Book Society Choice for autumn 2008 and her most recent pamphlet Brood (Seren) 2017, was illustrated by Paul Edwards. Rhian is also a winner of the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry, having won both the Judges and Audience award. She was also the first Writer in Residence at Aberystwyth Arts Centre from March to June 2013. Rhian’s poems have appeared in the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Poetry Review, New Statesman, Spectator, Poetry London, Poetry Wales, Arete, Prague Revue, the London Magazine, Stand and Planet Magazine amongst others. Rhian is a poet and musician and has delivered over 400 stage, radio and festival performances world-wide. She lives in South Wales with her daughter.
Her eagerly awaited second collection The Estate Agent’s Daughter is available now.
Timeframes: 2:00pm – 3:30pm/4:00pm
Open mic commences at 2:00pm and will last for forty-five minutes. The open mic will be followed by a short break, following this break their will be two main slots: Jess Mookherjee and Rhian Edwards, each reading for twenty minutes.
Date: Sunday, 28th August
Cost of Admission: £7
Location: Elysium Gallery and Studios, 210 High St, Swansea SA1 1PE