Barely Perceptible Splash

Ledbury Poetry Festival Reading

2009-05-29T17:35:00.001+01:00

I'll be reading at the Ledbury Poetry Festival with Glyn Maxwell on Friday 10th July, 2.30pm.
More details available here:

http://www.poetry-festival.com/Pages/2009programme.html

University of Sussex - Poetry Reading

2009-01-14T20:25:00.003Z

Wednesday 4th February 2009
1.15 - 1.45pm
Recital Room, Falmer House
(up the stairs next to the Union Shop)

As part of Julian Broughton's lunchtime recital programme, I'll be giving a relaxed 30 minute reading on campus from my recently published and PBS Recommended* book, 'Material'. Current postgrad colleagues and former students will be warmly welcomed. 'Outsiders' will not be turned away either. This is poetry, and we love audiences, no matter how intimate. Do come along and, in the immortal words of George Bernard Shaw, bring friends if you have any.

Free entry.

*Might as well milk it while I can.

Institute of Ideas Postgraduate Forum

2008-12-03T15:46:00.005Z

Institute of Ideas Postgraduate Forum
Wednesday 17 December
Room H208, Connaught House, London School of Economics.
7pm

For map click here

Ros Barber (PhD University of Sussex) will present: Questioning the Shakespearean Orthodoxy

ABSTRACT: Does it matter who wrote the works of Shakespeare? Would we read the plays and poems any differently if we believed they were written byChristopher Marlowe? We may be about to find out. Until recently it was believed that doubts about Shakespeare's authorship of the works attributed him were first raised 164 years after his death, and that the Shakespeare
Authorship Question is a relatively recent phenomenon. This paper will demonstrate that doubts about Shakespeare's authorship began in the year of the very first publication to appear under the name 'William Shakespeare' and provide evidence from the late 16th and early 17th centuries to suggest a number of Shakespeare's contemporaries believed that 'Shakespeare' was a pseudonym.

That such evidence exists and has been largely ignored by scholars raises interesting questions about the nature and influence of our belief systems. When we 'know' something we will tend not to perceive evidence conflicting with that belief, and will attempt to interpret evidence to support it. This research suggests that scholarship - in all disciplines - would benefit significantly if we were able to remove restrictions to our thinking by recognising that all 'knowledge' is essentially 'belief'.

Further reading: Diana Price "Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography: New Evidence of An Authorship Question" (Greenwood Press, 2002). A very interesting scholarly account of the (absence of) evidence underpinning Shakespeare's accepted biography, and how radically this differs from other Renaissance writers. Her appendix on literary paper trails is particularly
illuminating.

Format: After a brief introduction from the chair, Ros will present for about 30 minutes. This will be followed by a brief exchange with the chair, drawing out the major themes. We will then open to discussion with points and questions from the floor for about an hour and then head to the pub to continue the discussion informally.

Reading at Waterstones, Brighton

2008-10-28T10:47:00.001Z

Poetry Reading: Material
WATERSTONE'S BRIGHTON
Thursday, 20 November 2008,
7:00PM - 8:00PM
Tickets £3, available from the shop and redeemable against purchase of the books on the night.

Ros Barber will be reading from her new collection of poems, 'Material'. Joe Winter will also be reading from his new Rabindranath Tagore translations, 'The Golden Boat'.

Further details: 01273 206017

Reading at Goldsmiths

2008-10-28T10:36:00.002Z

The Department of English & Comparative Literature presents:

ROS BARBER and NAOMI FOYLE reading from their new collections:
Material and The Night Pavilion, both PBS recommendations.

Time: 5.00 p.m.

Date: Wednesday 19th November

Venue: Senior Common Room
Richard Hoggart Building

Please email Maria Macdonald at or tel. 020 7919
7436 if you wish to attend

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester: Coffee Morning

2008-10-28T10:33:00.004Z

Pallant House Gallery Coffee Morning
Thursday 30th October

A special event, organised by the Friends in collaboration with the Book Shop, to meet the award-winning contemporary poet Ros Barber (former Poet in Residence at Pallant House Gallery) and purchase copies of her new published book of poems, which contains poems composed in response to works of art in the permanent collection.

10.30am-12 noon
£8.50/£5 students/£1 friends of PHG
coffee included

Material Launch

2008-09-26T10:25:00.002+01:00

Material is being launched in Brighton above the Quadrant pub (clock-tower) on Thursday October 23rd at 7.30pm. Anyone wishing to attend should send an e-mail info@rosbarber.info so your name can go on the guest list.

Reading in Reading

2008-09-26T10:22:00.002+01:00

I'm reading in Reading on Friday 17th October at a night hosted by A.F.Harrold

The night is called Poets' Café and happens at South Street Arts Centre, South Street, Reading. Doors open 8pm, show begins at 8.30. £6/£4 on the door. I'll be reading for 20-30 minutes. The rest of the night is open mic - sign up on the night. A.F.Harrold tells me there's a bar and lots of lovely people.

Cheltenham Workshop & Reading

2008-09-26T10:21:00.002+01:00

On Sunday 5th October, I'll be giving a short workshop, followed by a reading, at "Buzzwords" in Cheltenham.

The Exmouth Arms
Bath Road
Cheltenham

7pm for workshop
8pm for open mic & reading

£3

PBS Recommendation

2008-09-17T11:03:00.003+01:00

I'm very pleased to report that my new collection, Material, has received a Poetry Book Society recommendation in the Winter edition of the PBS bulletin. I would like to thank everyone who supported me through the (now defunct) Shallowlands blog during the writing of Material.

Material is published by Anvil next month. The Brighton launch event, and a number of readings, will be announced here shortly.

The Launch of Flesh and Blood...

2007-10-26T15:32:00.000+01:00

at Pallant House Gallery yesterday was a joy. Not a huge crowd came but actually the intimacy made for something really special. Thank you to everyone who attended both readings. It was lovely. I hope to return to PHG some time in the future.

October Readings

2007-09-28T12:24:00.000+01:00

On Thursday 25th October, I'm launching "Flesh and Blood", the small group of poems commissioned by Gulbenkian prize-winning Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. These were poems written in response to works in the permanent collection by Sir Matthew Smith, Victor Willing and Richard Hamilton and the temporary installation Shell by Susie McMurray. Shell (whose tenure has been extended by popular demand) will be dismantled at the end of the month, so the reading is well-worth attending on the basis that this is the only chance to experience the poem together and the artwork that inspired it.

I'll be reading the Flesh and Blood poems in front of the artworks that inspired them, starting from 6pm. There is what might be described as strongly sensual content, so you might want to leave the children at home. The tickets are limited for this event, so it's worth booking ahead. For tickets and all enquiries contact Pallant House Gallery. Travellers from Brighton should know it's only £10 return by rail (the gallery is a 5-10 minute walk from the station).

And just a quick reminder that I'll be reading some poems at the Meeting House on University of Sussex campus at 5pm the previous week, Tuesday 16th, as part of the continuing Frogmore Papers 25th anniversary celebrations. Other readers include, I believe, the delectable Catherine Smith.

New Poems

2007-08-24T12:56:00.000+01:00

Poems destined for Material are slowly making their way into the world. The sonnet Bad Mother has just been published in The Pedestal, and Driving Without Lights is coming out shortly in the summer issue of Poetry Review, Dreams of Elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Anvil have offered me a publication slot: summer 2008.

Sussex Readings this Autumn

2007-08-20T21:07:00.000+01:00

The Frogmore Papers is 25 Years old this year, and I'll be joining in the celebrations by doing short sets at two local readings. Inbetween these two, I'll be doing a 50-minute slot for the Poetry Police at Forest Row, showcasing mostly new material.

Tuesday 11th September
Frogmore Papers 25th Anniversary Event
Komedia, Brighton
Reading with Judith Kazantzis, Clare Best & Rachel Playforth
Doors 7.30 for an 8pm start
£5/£4 concessions & Friends of the South/£3 Friends of the South concessions

Friday 14th September
Poetrypolice
Forest Row Community Centre, Hartfield Road, Forest Row RH18 5DY
First half is an open mic; second half is me. No license but you can bring your own booze.
Starts 7.30
Finishes 9.30
£5/£4 conc

Tuesday 16th October
Frogmore Papers 25th Anniversary Event
Meeting House, Sussex University Campus, Falmer
Reading with other poets that have been published in the Frogmore Papers over the years.
Starts 5pm