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Fleurs du Mal and Other Tales – A reading of poems by Annie Freud

Join us for an evening of poetry readings with Annie Freud, a poet and essayist renowned for her live performances.

Annie will be reading poems from her own collections, as well as a selection of Lucian Freud’s favourite poets. The evening will be chaired by poet and editor Kathryn Gray.

And I Always Thought

And I always thought: the very simplest words
Must be enough. When I say what things are like
Everyone’s heart must be torn to shreds.
That you’ll go down if you don’t stand up for yourself.
Surely you see that.

Brecht – Poems 1938-1956 (Methuen)

Annie Freud

Annie Freud is a poet, painter, essayist, translator, editor and teacher. She is the author of four collections of poetry published by Picador: ‘The Best Man That Ever Was’, winner of the Dimplex Prize for new Writing, ‘The Mirabelles’, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, ‘The Remains’ and ‘Hiddensee’. Reviewing Hiddensee, Fiona Samson writes: ‘These understated poems are a small masterclass in the art of synthesis.’

Kathryn Gray

Kathryn Gray is a poet and editor. Her first collection, The Never-Never, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Her second collection of poetry, Hollywood or Home, will be published by Seren in autumn 2023. With Andrew Neilson, she co-conceived and co-edits the digital poetry journal Bad Lilies.

Image: Cyclamen, 1964 (oil on canvas) Freud, Lucian (1922-2011) Private Collection © The Lucian Freud Archive, Bridgeman Images