Cafe Poetry is delighted to welcome local poet Teresa Forrest to our March meeting. As well as Teresa’s work we will be sharing a variety of verse from East Midlands poets including Byron, Lawrence, Cecil Day Lewis, Mary Howitt, Kirke White and Sillitoe. And also sampling work from 21st century and lesser known early poets.

Following previous programmes there will be a playlist of poems on the theme – from poets old and new including local wordsmiths as well. Please bring along your own favourites to present to the group.

Doors open 5.30pm onwards for 6 – 7pm event.

At this evening’s event Teresa will be reading some poems from her debut pamphlet The Stories In Between, published by Five Leaves Publications in 2023. Teresa has lived in Beeston for almost thirty years but is originally from a small town in Northern Ireland. She won the DH Lawrence Heritage Centre poetry competition in 2014 and has been writing ever since.

Teresa Forrest’s poetry has been published in a range of literary magazines and journals. In 2023 she was awarded an MA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Nottingham Trent University. She is the Secretary of Nottingham Poetry Society.

In this pamphlet she explores heritage, relationships and what it means to belong. There are poems about family, who are rooted in the Northern Irish landscape but also lonely people represented within, asking to be listened to. The poems provide glimpses into other’s lives, showing us how they have been dislocated, and how profound loss has shaped some of them.

Tickets £6.50 from www.yellowwoodcafe.co.uk/events/poetry/

Note – this is a small venue so please buy in advance, over the counter at Yellow Wood Cafe or at the above link. Tickets are not available through Five Leaves.