BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.5//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:11015@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251030T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251030T180000 DTSTAMP:20251001T151646Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/matt-simpson-memorial-reading-wi th-deryn-rees-jones/ SUMMARY:Open Eye Gallery: Matt Simpson Memorial Reading with Deryn Rees-Jon es DESCRIPTION:Thursday 30 October 2025 /6pm–8pm / Open Eye Gallery / free\ , book your spot\n\nFor the seventh Matt Simpson Memorial Reading\, hoste d by Liverpool Poetry Space\, Professor Deryn Rees-Jones will be reading f rom her new collection\, Hôtel Amour\, a sequel to her T. S. Eliot Prize shortlisted Erato.  Deryn Rees-Jones’ remarkable new collection sees her returning to ongoing preoccupations: the complexities of memory and me morialisation\, desire and the body\, and poetry’s place in a hostile wo rld. \n\nThe Matt Simpson Memorial Reading was established by Dr Eleanor Rees at Liverpool Hope University\, working with The Windows Project.  Pr evious readings included the following poets George Szirtes (2018)\, Liz B erry (2019)\, Helen Mort (2021\, online)\, Kayo Chingonyi (2022)\, Seán H ewitt (2023)\, Janette Ayachi (2024).\n\nDeryn Rees-Jones is Professor of Poetry at the University of Liverpool\, and editor of the Pavilion Poetry (Liverpool University Press). The Memory Tray (Seren Books\, 1995) was shortlisted for a Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. Her coll ection of work includes: Signs Round A Dead Body (Seren Books\, 1998)\,  Quiver (Seren Books\, 2004)\, Consorting With Angels (Bloodaxe\, 2005 )\, Modern Women Poets (Bloodaxe\, 2005) and And You\, Helen (Seren Bo oks\, 2014)\, a meditation on Helen and Edward Thomas\, illustrated by Cha rlotte Hodes. In 2010 she received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors. Her collection Burying the Wren was on the 2012 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist\, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation\, and a Times Lit erary Supplement Book of the Year. Erato (2019) was again a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She is also the author of Paula Rego: The Art of Story (Thames &\; Hudson 2019) and the lyric essay Fires (Shoestring\, 2019). She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2024. Her collection Wha t It’s Like to be Alive: Selected Poems (Seren\, 2016) was also a Poetr y Book Society Special Commendation.\n\nMatt Simpson was born in Bootle i n 1936 Simpson to a working-class family with a long seafaring tradition. He was educated at Bootle Grammar School. In 1955 he won a place at Cambri dge where he read English. Matt was an English poet\, literary critic\, me ntor and Senior Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University. He published six fu ll collections of poetry\, literary criticism and essays and work for chil dren. He died in 2009. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2025/10/Alison-Dodd-Photography_Deryn-Rees-Jones-Headshot-revised-8-1.jp g CATEGORIES:Literature & Poetry,Talks LOCATION:Open Eye Gallery\, Mann Island\, Liverpool Waterfront\, Liverpool\ , L3 1BP\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom GEO:53.40423;-2.994412 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Mann Island\, Liverpool Wat erfront\, Liverpool\, L3 1BP\, Liverpool\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=1 00;X-TITLE=Open Eye Gallery:geo:53.40423,-2.994412 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251026T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR