DPF Presents Word Wise X She Speaks

DPF Presents Word Wise X She Speaks with Kim Addonizio, Vanessa Kisuule, Amy Acre & Cecilia Knapp

Online

5:30 pm - 8 pm

It's the finale of the 2024 festival, and we're proud to say we're going out with a bang! Join us for a digital showcase with internationally renowned poets Cecilia Knapp, Amy Acre, Vanessa Kisuule and Kim Addonizio. This is guaranteed to be an event for the ages, and you don't even have to leave your house to be there! The perfect end to an awesome weekend.

Kim Addonizio is the author of over a dozen books of prose and poetry, most recently Now We’re Getting Somewhere (Poems, W.W. Norton) and an essay collection, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life (Penguin). Her forthcoming collection of poetry from Norton is Exit Opera. She lives in Oakland, CA. https://www.kimaddonizio.com

Kim Addonizio’s latest poetry collection is Now We’re Getting Somewhere (W.W. Norton, 2021). She is the author of seven other poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry, The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux, W.W. Norton ) and Ordinary Genius, as well as a memoir, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life (Penguin). Her awards include fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation and her collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. She lives in Oakland, CA and teaches poetry workshops on Zoom.

Vanessa Kisuule is a writer and performer based in Bristol. She has been featured on BBC iPlayer, Radio 1 and Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and has written for Guardian, NME and Lonely Planet. Burning Eye Books publish her poetry. Kisuule is the co-tutor for Southbank New Poets Collective 2021-22 and was Bristol City Poet 2018-20. Her poem on the historic toppling of Edward Colston's statue 'Hollow' gained over 600,000 views on Twitter in three days. Her debut non-fiction Neverland: The Pleasures and Perils of Fandom is published by Canongate.

Amy Acre is a poet and editor, born in London and living in Nottingham. Her debut collection, Mothersong (Bloomsbury, 2023) was shortlisted for the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, and was named a Book of the Year in The Telegraph, The Financial Times and California Review of Books. She runs award-winning indie publisher, Bad Betty Press.

Amy is the author of pamphlets, And They Are Covered in Gold Light (Bad Betty, 2019) and Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads (Flipped Eye, 2015), both selected as a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. She’s written for Radio 4 and featured on The Last Dinosaur’s 2020 track, ‘In The Belly of a Whale’.

Cecilia Knapp is a poet and novelist and the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. She is the winner of the 2021 Ruth Rendell award and has been shortlisted for both the Rebecca Swift Women’s prize and the Outspoken poetry prize. Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig was published by Corsair in 2022 and was the Observer’s poetry book of the month for October. Her poems have appeared in  The Financial Times, Granta, The White Review, Wasafiri, Popshot, Ambit, Magma and bath magg and anthologised. She curated the anthology Everything is Going to be alright: Poems for When you Really Need Them, published by Trapeze in 2021.  Her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press (Harper Collins.) Purchase here. In 2023, Little Boxes was longlisted for The Authors Club Best First Novel Award.

At Derby Poetry Festival, we aim to make our events and workshops as accessible as possible, so everyone can take part. Which is why we have 3 ticket options available. 'Event Ticket - Supported' is a discounted rate ticket for those on a lower income to still be able to access the event. Our standard ticket is the normal rate of the event, and goes towards paying our artists, accessibility coordinators and associated fees with holding the festival. Our Pay It Forward ticket option is for those who wish to contribute towards the supported tickets, as well as attending the event. This helps us provide more supported tickets and host bigger and better events that everyone can access. Each ticket option allows you the same access to the event.

About Derby Poetry Festival

Often referred to as DPF, Derby Poetry Festival is a four-day poetry and literature festival held in the centre of Derby in the autumn. We are dedicated to developing new writing talent in Derby and bring excellent work to the city.

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Previous headliners include Terrance Hayes, Raymond Antrobus, Rachel Long, Linton Quasi Johnson, recent T S Elliott winner Joelle Taylor and Shivanee Ramlochan.

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We host a range of performances, workshops, slams and panel discussions for all ages in partnership with many venues in the city including Quad, Derby Museums, Derby Theatre and Derby Libraries. Supported by Arts Council England and Derby City Council.