Fire River Poets Presents: Michael Laskey

Fire River Poets are delighted to welcome acclaimed Suffolk poet Michael Laskey for a special guest reading.

Join us for an evening celebrating the work of one of the most influential figures in the poetry community of Suffolk, whose long and distinguished career has encompassed writing, teaching, editing, publishing and the nurturing of poetry and poets.

Michael Laskey

Michael Laskey was born in Lichfield in 1944 and grew up in suburban London. He was educated at Gresham’s School, Holt, in Norfolk, before studying English at St John’s College, Cambridge.

Michael has lived in Suffolk for forty-eight years. Alongside his own writing, he has played a significant role in supporting and developing poetry in the region and beyond. He ran workshops in schools and with a wide variety of adult groups, tutored regularly for the Arvon Foundation, and taught an undergraduate Creative Writing: Poetry module at the University of East Anglia.

For many years, Michael co-edited the poetry magazine Smiths Knoll, producing fifty issues, and he co-founded and directed the original Aldeburgh Poetry Festival through its first decade.

His publishing work has also been an important part of his contribution to the poetry community. Through Garlic Press, he publishes pamphlets and full collections, mainly by Suffolk poets, helping to provide a platform for emerging and established voices.

Michael has published seven collections of his own poetry. His most recent publication, Collected Poems (Smith/Doorstop, 2025), brings together his work across a long and distinguished poetic career. The collection was awarded the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry, recognising his outstanding contribution to poetry.

An Evening of Poetry

This Fire River Poets event offers a chance to hear Michael Laskey read from his celebrated body of work and reflect on a career deeply rooted in both poetry and community. From his own acclaimed collections to his work with Smiths Knoll, the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Garlic Press and generations of writers and readers, Michael has made a lasting contribution to the poetry landscape of Suffolk and the wider UK.

Other poets from within the Fire River Poets community will also be invited to share their work, making this a varied evening of poetry that brings together an acclaimed guest poet and local voices.

Whether you are familiar with Michael’s work or discovering his poetry for the first time, we warmly invite you to join us for an evening of readings, conversation and shared appreciation of poetry.

All are welcome.

Fire River Poets with special guest Katie Griffiths present Poetry on a Sunday Afternoon.

This special in-person event takes place at Brendon Books, Taunton on Sunday 18^th October, 2pm – 4pm.

Join us for an inspiring afternoon of poetry featuring prize-winning poet Katie Griffiths launching her new collection Mindset, Mindrise alongside Somerset’s long-established poetry group Fire River Poets. 

A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon…

Katie Griffiths grew up in Canada in a family originally from Northern Ireland. She is author of The Attitudes (Nine Arches Press) and the prize-winning My Shrink is Pregnant (Live Canon). A second collection from Nine Arches, Mindset Mindrise, is out this autumn. She won the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize in 2024, and came second in 2018’s National Poetry Competition. Katie runs monthly live poetry sessions in Walton-on-Thames that bring poets of national standing to the stage of Riverhouse Barn. She regularly mentors and runs workshops, and is also a serious dabbler in music.

To book, click this link: Brendon Books online ticket sales powered by TicketSource

Dear Poets,

This is just a reminder of Katie Griffiths’ poetry workshop in Stogumber Village Hall on Saturday 17^th October, 10am – 4.30pm.

If you attended any of her workshops in previous years you will know what an inspiring mentor and poet Katie is. She is the author of two collections of poetry, was runner-up in the National Poetry Competition 2018 and won The Gregory O’Donoghue Award in 2023.

Katie’s working theme and focus for the day is Disguise/Reveal, a rich theme with a great dynamic for us to explore. There a few places left and you can book a place for £25 via bank transfer to:

Fire River Poets Taunton Poetry Group

09-06-66

43254835

Stogumber Village Hall is a lovely venue with some parking (with more nearby) and there will be free tea/coffee/biscuits available all day.

Best wishes

Graeme Ryan

Fire River Poets