EVENTS BEEN & GONE

WHAT WAS ON (back in 2018 ...)

Saturday 28 July 2018, The Sizzling Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe

Come along to a summer night of poetry in the Shuffle series – hosted by Chris Beckett and Lynne Hjelmgaard – with Isobel Dixon, Chrissy Williams, Mark Waldron, Anne Berkeley, Declan Ryan, Selina Rodriguez and Adil Hussain.

The newly refurbished Poetry Cafe event room is a lovely space – with air-conditioning!

Saturday 28 July, 19:30–22:00 pm, The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
£7/£5 on the door. 

Friday 13 July 2018, VERTIGINOUS at the BFI, Southbank, London

A multi-poet, multi-media poetic interpretation of Hitchcock's Vertigo on its 60th Anniversary
Friday 13 July, 19:00–20:00
BFI Southbank, Blue Room (upstairs from the Ticket Office)
Tickets available from the BFI Box Office or online here.
£8 for the Vertiginous show alone, or you can buy a joint ticket with the later screening of Vertigo on Fri 13 July (Film starts 20:30 in NFT1 £15, Concessions £12; BFI Members pay £2 less).

To mark the 60th anniversary of Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock’s intense and disturbing masterpiece of obsession, manipulation and loss, six cinephile poets reinterpret the film in performance, with original music, and images.

Vertiginous was devised by Simon Barraclough and the show features Mona Arshi, Dzifa Benson, Isobel Dixon, Chris McCabe, Chrissy Williams and Simon Barraclough in live performance, with visuals and music.
Original music by Oli Barrett and Simon Barraclough.

With the kind support of the BFI and The Poetry Society and ably assisted by John Canfield.

Saturday 16 June 2018, I See You Seeing Me: Engaging the Female Gaze in Visual Art and Poetry

9:30–18:00, Saturday 16 June,  A.P.T. Gallery, Harold Wharf, 6 Creekside, Deptford SE8 4SA
For map, tickets and more information click here.

A fundraiser organised by Kathryn Maris and Catherine Humble, in support of the poetry magazine Poetry London, which promotes the work of unpublished, as well as established, living poets. This day-long symposium will explore the notion of the ‘female gaze’ in poetry and painting. Over the last couple of years, the ‘female gaze’ has emerged as a new term in critical discussions about visual art and literature. Associated with the perspective of the female artist, character, or viewer that’s different from the male view, the female gaze is conceived as disrupting patriarchal power by offering a different mode of looking. Bringing together female painters and poets, the symposium will explore diverse notions of the female gaze.

The symposium will begin with a keynote lecture by Katherine Angel followed by interviews, panel discussions and talks featuring Adam Phillips, Hannah Sullivan, Ruth Padel, Jane Yeh, Sasha Dugdale, Kim Moore, Helen Mort, Bidisha, Sarah Pickstone, Vera Iliatova and Isobel Dixon. The event will conclude with evening readings by Geraldine Clarkson, Ruth Padel, Anita Pati, Rommi Smith, Karen McCarthy Woolf and Jane Yeh, followed by a wine reception.

Thursday 10 May 2018, 'Poems of Home & Exile' at the Mayfield Festival

Isobel Dixon & Jonty Driver at the Mayfield Festival of Music & the Arts
15:00, Thursday 10 May, St Thomas of Canterbury Church (in Station Road at the Southern End of the High Street)
Mayfield TN20 6BU (near Tunbridge Wells), TIckets £5. Book here.

NO ENDURING CITIES: Questions of Home & Exile – a poetry reading by Isobel Dixon & C.J. (Jonty) Driver
 Jonty Driver and Isobel Dixon grew up in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and their experiences in their native country and abroad both overlap and diverge, experiences that are vividly and often movingly depicted in their poetry. Both come from clergy families – Jonty is the son, grandson, and great-grandson of clergy on both sides of his family, while Isobel’s Scottish father came to Umtata (now Mthatha) in the Transkei region and became Dean of the Anglican Cathedral there.

Teaching is also in their blood: Jonty’s father was chaplain of St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown and Headmaster of Uplands School, and in Britain Jonty taught at Sevenoaks, then Matthew Humberstone Comprehensive School, and after that became Principal of Island School, Hong Kong (1978-83), Headmaster of Berkhamsted (1983-9), and Master of Wellington College (1989-2000). Isobel’s grandparents taught at Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, and her father taught science at St John’s College, Mthatha (where he taught several future political leaders of the country) and at several other schools in the Eastern Cape. Isobel thought she too might become a teacher or academic, but after her postgraduate study at Edinburgh University, where she completed Master’s degrees in English Literature and in Applied Linguistics (with a thesis focusing on Adult Literacy in the New South Africa), she heard the siren call of London’s publishing industry. For the past two decades she has worked as a literary agent at Blake Friedmann, where she is a Director and Head of Books; while also writing and performing her poetry. As she says, agenting involves a lot of teaching via editing too, and she loves running creative writing workshops and participating in readings and discussions at schools and universities.

Jonty was educated during some of South Africa’s most turbulent times: he went to the University of Cape Town in the 1960s, where he became enmeshed in anti-apartheid politics. He was elected President of the National Union of South African Students, and in 1964 he was detained by the security police and held in solitary confinement. Released without charge after five weeks, he left for England, taught for a year, then went to Oxford as a postgraduate student. While he was there, the renewal of his South African passport was refused, and he became stateless for five years, before becoming a British citizen. While Isobel’s journey to Scotland and then England was less fraught, there are confluences in their experiences and observation that this programme of poems will tease out, as they criss-cross similar terrain in very different ways.

Jonty and Isobel have travelled widely around the world, and many other places find their way into their work, but always their poetry circles back to the striking landscapes and troubled history of their motherland, an extraordinary country on the southern tip of Africa. Festival-goers can look forward to a rich and varied reading and lively discussion about the themes the poems raise.

Jonty Driver has published five novels, seven books of poems, and four books of non-fiction. Two pamphlets of poems (The Journey Back and Before) are awaiting publication, as is a book of poems, Still Farther, New Poems 2000-2016.  Jonty lives in East Sussex with his wife:  they have three children and eight grand-children, and travel widely, but especially to Southern Africa. Jonty is a Trustee of the Beit Trust, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of East Anglia. www.jontydriver.co.uk

Isobel Dixon was born in Mthatha in South Africa, where her debut Weather Eye won the Olive Schreiner Prize. Her fourth collection Bearings was published by Nine Arches in April 2016, with re-issues of A Fold in the Map and The Tempest Prognosticator forthcoming in July 2018. Her pamphlet, The Leonids, was published by Mariscat in August 2016. She often collaborates with other poets, artists and composers and devised, wrote and performed in the multi-media show for the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic, The Debris Field. She is currently working on a project about D H Lawrence with the Scottish artist Doug Robertson and American composer Stephen Montague, linked to Lawrence’s collection Birds, Beasts and Flowers. She works as Director and Head of Books at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and lives in Cambridge with her husband.
www.isobeldixon.com

WHAT WAS ON (way back in 2017)

Thursday 28 September–Sunday 1 October 2017, Articulate Africa, Durban

Articulate Africa Book Festival at the Essence Festival, Durban
Durban International Conference Centre
28 September–1 October 2017

Friday 29 September 2017
15:30 – I'll be signing in the Carnevale Lounge.

Sunday 1 October 2017 – I will take part in the following events:
10:00 On Literary Agenting, with Aoife Lennon-Ritchie & Paula Morris
14:00 On Editing, with Etienne van Heerden, Melinda Ferguson & Darryl David
17:00 Poetry Event with Chris Abani, Dime Mziba, Thando Fuze, Kyle Allen, Lihle Madala, and Xolile "NdoniyaseMbo" Mkhize

Saturday 8 July 2017, Jupiter Series Reading, Brooklyn, New York City

Amy Holman, Scott Edward Anderson & Isobel Dixon at the Jupiter Series
17:00, Saturday 8 July
The Brooklyn Workshop Gallery
393 Hoyt St, btw 2nd & 3rd, Brooklyn, NY 11231
The Gallery is on Hoyt Street between 2nd & 3rd Streets, near the Carroll Street F train stop, 2nd Place exit.

Tuesday 20 June 2017, Kent & Sussex Poetry Society

Isobel Dixon read at the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society on Tuesday 20 June at the Camden Centre, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2SW. T
Readings start at 20:00 (to finish by 22:00). Visitors welcome. Admission to non-members: £3 (students £2).
The Camden Centre is situated in Market Square at the rear of The Royal Victoria Centre, Tunbridge Wells.

Saturday 17 June 2017, Launch of The Tree Line, New Forest Arts Festival

The launch of The Tree Line: Poems for Trees, Woods & People, an anthology of new poems from Worple Press celebrating our trees and woodlands, and what they mean to people in the UK and beyond. There were readings by poets from the anthology: Gillian Clarke (National Poet of Wales 2008–2016), Isobel Dixon, Stephen Boyce and Michael McKimm (who also edited the anthology). The Tree Line celebrates the Woodland Trust’s new Charter for Trees Woods and People designed to mark the 800th Anniversary of the Forest Charter, and has a Foreword from Clive Anderson, who is President of the Woodland Trust.

14:00, Treehouse Study Centre, Countryside Education Trust Treehouse, Hartford Wood, Beaulieu, Hampshire, SQ42 7YL
Free, and booking is not required. See more here.

In 2017, on the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Charter of the Forest, the Woodland Trust along with over 70 other organisations will publish a new ‘Charter for Trees, Woods & People’. To shape this new Charter they have asked the public to share their memories of trees and tell them why trees are important. This anthology complements this work by asking the same questions through poetry: a Charter for Trees, Woods & People in verse.

Michael McKimm invited over 60 poets to write new poems in response to the 1217 Charter of the Forest, trees or woodlands of personal significance to them, or about how trees have shaped our society, landscape and lives. In this anthology you’ll find poems about trees in gardens and along the sides of roads, trees to climb and build dens in, and favourite trees cut down. Poems about childhood, memory, history, motherhood, nationhood, law, mythology and death. Poems about turning into trees. Poems about getting lost in the woods. Poems about oak, ash, alder, pine, chestnut, birch and many more besides – a profound celebration of trees. Some of the poets involved include Simon Armitage, Alison Brackenbury, Gillian Clarke, Isobel Dixon, Philip Gross, David Morley, Andrew Motion, Grace Nichols and Penelope Shuttle. The Tree Line is supported by the Legal Sustainability Alliance, a movement of legal firms who work collaboratively to improve the environmental sustainability of their activities.

To pre-order The Tree Line: Poems for Trees, Woods and People, see here.

Tuesday 2 May 2017, Isobel Dixon & Jonty Driver, Cambridge University

Two South African poets, C. J. (Jonty) Driver and Isobel Dixon will be reading and discussing their work.
17:00–18:30. Venue: Room SR24, Faculty of English, 9 West Road, CB3 9DP.
Free, and all welcome!

Saturday 8 April 2017, The Persisters 'Holding the Line', Star of Kings, London

The Persisters is a network of feminist poets and artists, concerned about the turning tide in the rights of women and all minorities. HOLDING THE LINE was a vibrant day of artistic activism, fund-raising (for Women's Aid) and spirit-raising (for us all), held on 8 April at The Star of Kings, London N1 0AX, from 15:00 to midnight (with readings till 20:00 and a party after!). The day raised money for Women’s Aid, a grass-roots federation working together to provide life-saving services for women and children, seeking to build a future where domestic violence is not tolerated.
Click to donate via my fundraising page on JustGiving.

Sunday 19 February 2017, The Verve Poetry Festival, Birmingham

Nine Arches Press Showcase featuring Isobel Dixon, Roy McFarlane, Abegail Morley and Robert Peake.
Nine Arches Press is an independent Midlands-based poetry publisher that is dedicated to publishing the very best contemporary work that excites, surprises and delights. In this ‘Lost and Found’ event, join four of their fantastic poets for a reading that explores themes of absence, loss, bearings and finding your way.

Sunday 12 February 2017, Buzzwords with Greg Leadbetter, Cheltenham

On Sunday evening, 12 February, I led a workshop and reading with Greg Leadbetter at Buzzwords at the Exmouth Arms in Cheltenham – my first time there and it was a great workshop group and audience. Greg and I are Nine Arches family – last year Jane Commane of Nine Arches published my fourth collection Bearings in April and Greg's The Fetch in October. See more on Greg's site here. I read from Bearings and my Mariscat pamphlet The Leonids, along with new work and Greg read brilliantly from his ‘uncanny, unnerving and poignant’ debut collection.
 

WHAT WAS ON (way back in 2016...)

Sunday 20 November 2016, Havana 10K in aid of Parkinson's UK

Not a poetry event exactly, though as I run I shall be thinking of my mother, Ann Dixon, who had Parkinson's. My pamphlet with Mariscat, The Leonids, is about her and with this (modest) 10 km race, I hope to raise funds for the research and support work of Parkinson's UK. If you feel moved to donate something, my JustGiving page is here. Thank you.

Wednesday 9 November, The Poetry of the Periodic Table, Thinktank, Birmingham

Little Atoms presents The Poetry of the Periodic Table, the second of their Two Cultures In Conversation evenings. Join poet Isobel Dixon and Dr Zoe Schnepp of the University of Birmingham Chemistry Department to explore the elementary, from Arsenic to Zirconium (well, not quite everything in between though...). Birmingham's Thinktank provides a great location for a night where we use poetry and science to examine the stuff that makes up our world. Local poetry publisher the Emma Press will create specially commissioned illustrations and poetry to mark what will be a truly unusual evening. In association with Arts Council England and the Emma Press.
18:30–20:00, Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG. View Map.

Thursday 27 October, Stablemates: Nine Arches Salon, Waterstones Piccadilly, London

Jill Abram presents three poets from Nine Arches Press in an evening of readings and conversation, the second of the Stablemates Salons. Isobel Dixon, Jo Bell and Rishi Dastidar will be reading together, featuring poems from their Nine Arches collections. You can see more details about the poets and their work here.
Waterstones Piccadilly, 203/206 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9HD. Map and more information here.
19:00, readings will start promptly at 19.30pm. Tickets £5.

Saturday 1 October, The Music of Grant McLachlan, Baxter Theatre, Cape Town

A special 60th birthday concert for composer Grant McLachlan, celebrating 40 years of his music.The concert included the premiere of his Sonatina for Double Bass, commissioned by Leon Bosch, as well as a selection from Bach`s The Art Of Fugue. A sampling of his work over the past four decades includes his recent choral piece Of Light in which four poems are set to music – poems by Olive Schreiner, Antjie Krog and Ingrid de Kok as well as Isobel Dixon's short poem 'Back in the Benighted Kingdom'. The centrepiece of the concert was the piano quintet Oesterwal Landscape, which was commissioned in 1992 by the Music Group Of Manchester, of which Bosch is a member. The concert concluded with the ever popular carol ‘Come, Colours Rise’.

Baxter Concert Hall – Cape Town, Western Cape. Sat 1 Oct 2016 20:15 pm
Part of the night's profits were put towards a bursary fund to enable students to attend the Franschhoek Chamber Music Workshop. The workshop is in its 27th year and offers musically gifted young people a week's intensive training in chamber music.

Tuesday 20 September 2016, Bearings & Beginnings, Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival

Nine Arches Press presents an evening of poetry on the theme of travelling and homecoming, getting your bearings and finding your beginnings with poets Roy Mcfarlane and Isobel Dixon, who will read from their new poetry collections. These are poems of love and loss, discovery and belonging, and both poets will also interweave Shakespeare and sonnets into their journey. Join us to travel poetry's path and see where it takes us – around the world, across borders, even just around the corner...

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Henley St, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6QW, Stratford-upon-Avon. More info, map and directions on the Shakespeare's Birthplace website here.
19:30- 21:00. Tickets £7 (£5 concessions). Event info and book here.

Saturday 17 September 2016, The Leonids & Bearings Launch, Brighton Keep, Graaff-Reinet

A home town reading! A Great Karoo launch reading from my two 2016 publications, Bearings (poems of exploration - poetic, political, geographical) published by Modjaji in South Africa), but mostly from The Leonids (a pamphlet largely about my mother and my sisters, published by Scottish publisher Mariscat). This will also be very much a celebration of my mother, who died at our home in Graaff-Reinet in May 2015. A short reading and morning tea, in a lovely Graaff-Reinet setting.
11:30-12:30, Brighton Keep, 72 Somerset Street, Graaff-Reinet.
Facebook event details here. Free but books will be on sale. Join us for morning tea, cake and poetry!

Wednesday 14 September 2016, The Leonids & Bearings Launch, ArtKaroo Gallery, Oudtshoorn

A return to my sister Janet Dixon's art gallery, ArtKaroo, for a Little Karoo launch reading from my two 2016 publications, Bearings (poems of exploration – poetic, political, geographical) published by Modjaji in South Africa), but mostly from The Leonids (a pamphlet largely about my mother and my sisters, published by Scottish publisher Mariscat). This will also be very much a celebration of my mother, who died at our home in Graaff-Reinet in May 2015. A short reading and a glass of wine, and a chance to see some fine Karoo art.
18:30 at ArtKaroo, 54 Baron van Reede St, Prince Vincent Building, Oudtshoorn.
Facebook event details here.  Free, but books will be for sale. Join us for art, poetry and a glass of wine!
See report in Die Hoorn here.

Wednesday 17 August 2016, Six Poets at the Fruitmarket, Edinburgh

Step away from the Festival hubbub, into a world of art and poetry. In this popular annual event at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Isobel Dixon and Rob Mackenzie will be hosting and reading with poets Tessa Berring, Clare Best, Eliza Kentridge and Alan Gillis. The night will include new work by the poets, as well as a fresh art-themed poem from each poet, linked to the the gallery's current exhibition by Mexican sculptor, Damián Ortega.  Come early to see the exhibition before the poetry! There will be a bar, art, poetry and the special Fruitmarket Gallery festival atmosphere!

Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF (next to Waverley Station). 19:00 for 19:30 reading start.
FREE (though we will pass round the hat for a donation to the cause of art and poetry!)
Come on the night, or let us know on the Facebook Event page or the Fruitmarket Gallery's Eventbrite.

Friday 12 August 2016, The Leonids Launch, Blackwells, South Bridge, Edinburgh

Mariscat hosted the launch of The Leonids, a pamphlet mostly about my mother, Ann Dixon, seventeen poems about being a daughter and a sister, about depression and recovery, old age and love. I was delighted to return to Blackwells, South Bridge, for this launch, and grateful to Blackwells and Hamish Whyte of Mariscat. The shop used to be James Thins when I studied in Edinburgh – the shop where I spent hours browsing the poetry and literature sections, and where I bought many of my favourite books: David Jones's In Parenthesis, and various Collecteds by Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. This is also where I first saw poets like Adrienne Rich and Douglas Dunn read – so it was a huge thrill to celebrate this new book there.

'These beautiful poems, their imaginative energy, crystalline natural imagery and purity of line evoking the past and invoking a sense of personal and sororial loss, are in turn celebratory and revelatory.  Recalling her parents with insight and tenderness – startlingly elegising her father and in conjuring up her mother's presence and strength, unselfconsciously mirroring her own – Isobel Dixon instils both heartbreak and exhilaration.  And in extending her poetic frontiers she ever more vibrantly consolidates her roots.' – Stewart Conn, poet and playwright

Blackwells, 53-62 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1YS Time: 18:00 for 18:30, with a short reading and refreshments, till 20:00.
Free, but do register on Eventbrite here. For more information, or if you would like a signed copy because you can't make it to the event, please contact Ann Landmann on 0131 622 8222 or ann.landmann@blackwell.co.uk

Thursday 11 August 2016, The Late Stage Cabaret Edinburgh

I joined the Late Stage Cabaret Crew on Thursday 11 August at the New Town Theatre (Venue 7). ‘A catharsis of cultural creativity from Scotland's capital city! Each evening, host and hero of the Edinburgh music scene, Paul Montague, will bring you an eclectic mix of performances and styles. Showcasing Edinburgh's songwriting and spoken word communities – fused with hand-picked acts from the plethora of performers from this year's Festival Fringe – giving an insight into the macrocosm that is Edinburgh's vibrant artistic community. Beautiful music, played by people passionate about music; words, crafted by people who care about language; lunacy, performed by lunatics unafraid of the moon.’

22:45, New Town Theatre (Venue 7), 96 George St, Edinburgh EH2 3DH. Map here.
Tickets £8, concessions £7. Book here or at venue. The show runs for 1 hour 15 minutes

Monday 11 July 2016, Cafe Writers with Dixon, Morley & Webb, Norwich

Isobel Dixon will be reading at the Cafe Writers series in Norwich with fellow Nine Arches poets Julia Webb and Abegail Morley. All three poets have new collections out this year and will also read from new work. Julia is resident in Norwich and Abegail and Isobel will be visiting Norwich for the event.

Take 5, 17 Tombland, Norwich, NR3 1HF (upstairs function room) 19:30. Entry only £2.00.

Sunday 3 July 2016, South Africa Spotlight, Ledbury Poetry Festival

Isobel Dixon read with fellow South African poets Gabeba Baderoon and Toni Stuart at the South Africa Spotlight event on the Sunday of the Ledbury Poetry Festival.
18:00–19:30, with a short interval: £9. Book tickets here.  Burgage Hall, ChurchLane, Ledbury, HR8 1DW

Toni Stuart is a South African poet, performer and spoken word educator. Most recently she collaborated with the flamenco company dotdotdot dance as part of the Sadler's Wells Wild Card Nights. She will be reading work from Krotoa-Eva's Suite – a Cape jazz poem in three movements – a collection she is currently working on, which tells the largely unknown story of the 17th century Khoi woman Krotoa-Eva who played a significant role in South Africa's history during the time of the first Dutch settlers.
Gabeba Baderoon is an award-winning poet and scholar and author of the poetry collections, The Dream in the Next Body and A Hundred Silences, and the monograph Regarding Muslims: From Slavery to Post-apartheid. She says, ‘I have been working on a new collection of poems, tentatively titled Axis and Revolution. They still feel tender, with new skin, and I will share some of them with the audience at Ledbury. The poems in the collection speak of losing love and memory and the fragile apparatus of identity on which we hang so much.’
Isobel Dixon’s A Fold in the Map and her new collection Bearings have poems which relate to South Africa, the history of patients and political prisoners on Robben Island, poems about the damage of apartheid, the horror of state-sanctioned assassination by police and a short poem about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She also writes vividly about travel, nature and family. She has a pamphlet forthcoming from Mariscat, The Leonids, about her mother, while A Fold in the Map was about her father. Common themes for discussion at this fascinating event are politics and apartheid history, parents, and love, of course!
See the full Ledbury Poetry Festival Programme here.

Friday 1 July 2016, Ledbury Poetry Festival

Isobel Dixon reads her poem 'Late Knowledge' and Gabeba Baderoon's 'The Song of the Husband' from the Ledbury Poetry Festival's 20th anniversary anthology HWAET! (Bloodaxe, 2016) as part of the opening events on Friday. Hwaet! is the opening line of Beowulf – meaning Listen Here! It is the title for the Ledbury Poetry Festival Anthology featuring 192 poets from all over the world who have performed at Ledbury since the Festival started 20 years ago. This is apt considering that for twenty years Ledbury Poetry Festival has invited audiences to listen to the best, the most exciting and the most promising international poets and performers. The Festival will launch with an anthology reading introduced by publisher Neil Astley and editor Mark Fisher, featuring poets including Penelope Shuttle, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Philip Rush, Toni Stuart, Kim Moore, Alison Brackenbury, Hannah Lowe,  Ruth Padel, Daljit Nagra, Isobel Dixon, Jonathan Edwards, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, Fleur Adcock, Festival poet in residence Jacob Polley, and many more.

13–15 May 2016, Franschhoek Literary Festival, South Africa

Various events, details below. See more about authors taking part here. See full programme see here.

Friday 13 May 2016

10:00 [8] Schools: Poetry – Write, read, hear (Protea Hotel 2)
Poetry was not written to be dull. Finuala Dowling (Notes from the Dementia Ward) leads the discussion on the ways that poetry can be brought to life, for maximum insight and pleasure, with fellow poets Linda Kaoma (Badilisha Poetry X-change), Isobel Dixon (Bearings) and Wendy Woodward (A Saving Bannister).

11:30 [13] Schools: Poetry for Life Competition Finals (Church Hall) Special event, ending by 14:00
Finuala Dowling (host) and judges Isobel Dixon, Leon de Kock and Quentin Williams, and Celia van Druten (accuracy), oversee the finals in this high school competition to encourage the learning of poetry by heart.

14:30 [37] The nature of poetry (Protea Hotel 2)
UCT scholar Hedley Twidle discusses the themes of nature in the poetry of the late Stephen Watson (A Writer’s Diary) with Isobel Dixon and her new collection, Bearings.

17:30–19:30 Essence Cafe Reading (Essence Cafe)
Several poets will read each for 10 minutes in this popular Friday night event at Essence Cafe. I'll be reading in the early part of the evening. Essence Cafe Shop, 7 Huguenot Square, Huguenot Street, Franschhoek.

Saturday 14 May 2016

11:30 [69] Speaking up or writing down (Protea Hotel 2)
Primrose Mrwebi speaks with fellow poets Blaq Pearl, Isobel Dixon and Olajumoke Verissimo on the differing styles and delivery of spoken and written poetry.

Sunday 15 May 2016

10:00 [109] 'The ears of my ears awake' (Protea Hotel 2)
Channeling the words of e.e. cummings, Karin Schimke (Bare & Breaking) in discussion with poets Isobel Dixon (Bearings), Khadija Heeger and Primrose Mrwebi about their moment of first 'hearing' poetry — when their ears were opened to the magic of poetry, and how it inspired them to write their own poems.

13:00 [127] Breaking the barrier (Hospice Hall)
Christopher Hope asks publishing agent Isobel Dixon (Blake Friedmann Literary Agency) and South African author Niq Mhlongo (Affluenza) what it takes to get a book published in the global market.

Monday 9 May 2016, Off-the-Wall Reading Observatory, Cape Town

Isobel Dixon will be featured reader at Off-the-Wall in Observatory – her first South African reading from her new collection Bearings, published by Modjaji Books.
19:30 @TAAC – Methodist Minor Hall, Wesley Rd, Observatory, Cape Town.

Sunday 24 April 2016, Nine Arches Showcase at Wenlock Poetry Festival

With more than fifty poetry collections under their belt, Nine Arches Press (last year’s Publisher in Residence) returns to Wenlock with three new collections from Isobel Dixon, Julia Webb and Abegail Morley. Encompassing themes of loss, travel, mythology and sisterhood, each collection is distinct, memorable and inviting. Come along for the ride on what should be an irresistible and imaginative journey!
10:30–11:15. Wenlock Pottery Old Chapel House, Sheinton Street, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, TF13 6HT, £8.

8 April 2016, Launch of Bearings at the Yorkshire Grey, London

Launch of Bearings, with refreshments and readings, upstairs at the Yorkshire Grey pub, London.

WHAT WAS ON (way back in 2015...)

Saturday 7 November 2015, Map at the Festival of Geology

A FREE POETRY READING AT THE FESTIVAL OF GEOLOGY with Stephen Boyce, Peter Carpenter, Barbara Cumbers, Isobel Dixon, Maura Dooley, Ailsa Holland, Michael McKimm, all reading their poems from the anthology MAP: Poems after Wiliam Smith's Geological Map of 1815 (Worple Press, edited by Michael McKimm) plus other geologically-related work. Come and celebrate "the map that changed the world" and enjoy poets' responses to this and other maps and the rocks and strata of our world.
12.45 - 2pm, Saturday 7th November 2015 at University College London, Garden Room, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. See more on the day's events at the Festival of Geology here.

Monday 14 September 2015, The Wilderness Party launch, Sheffield

I'm thrilled to be joining Simon Barraclough in reading some poems in support of the Sheffield launch of AB Jackson's new collection, The Wilderness Party, out in September from Bloodaxe.  The Wilderness Party is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2015.
7:00 pm, The Fat Cat, 23 Alma Street, S3 8SA Sheffield. Readings will take place between 8 and 9 pm.

Wednesday 19 August 2015, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

 A reading featuring some new art-related poems written especially for the event - come see the Phyllida Barlow exhibition and listen to some poems! With Tom Chivers, Isobel Dixon, Rob Mackenzie, Andrew Phillip and Claire Crowther. A lively night at the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh Festival season.
8:00 pm, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DF. £5

Friday 15 & Saturday 16 May 2015, Franschhoek Literary Festival

I'll be taking part in the following poetry events at the annual Literary Festival in Franschhoek
Friday 15 May Poetry: Poets and Their Day Jobs (Event 43) 4pm,  Protea Hotel 2
Literary agent Isobel Dixon chats with Louis Esterhuizen (Protea Boekwinkel manager), book reviewer and blogger Karin Schimke, and Dan Wylie (English professor), about the impact their day jobs have on their poetry.

Saturday 16 May Poetry: Poems with Power 1pm, Protea Hotel 2
Karin Schimke (Bare & Breaking), Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (The Everyday Wife), Isobel Dixon (The Tempest Prognosticator), and Dan Wylie (Slow Fires) discuss and read the poems by other poets that had a powerful impact on them.

Thursday 9 April, Launch of Map, Geological Society, London

Launch of Map anthology (Worple Press), editedby Michael McKimm, celebrating William Smith and his Geological Map of 1815. Readers include Maura Dooley, Alison Brackenbury, Alan Buckley, George Ttouli, Jane Commane, Isobel Dixon, John Greening, Matt Merritt and Penelope Shuttle. At the Geological Society, London. By invitation only (contact me if interested).
The anthology includes the following poets:  Stephen Boyce ● Alison Brackenbury ● James Brookes ● Andy Brown ● Alan Buckley ● Peter Carpenter ● John Wedgwood Clarke ● Jane Commane ● Elizabeth Cook ● Barbara Cumbers ● Jonathan Davidson ● Isobel Dixon ● Maura Dooley ● Sally Flint ●  John Freeman ● Isabel Galleymore ● John Greening ● Philip Gross ● Alyson Hallett ● Ailsa Holland ● John McAuliffe ● Matt Merritt ● Helen Mort ● Andrew Motion ● David M. Orchard ● Mario Petrucci ● Kate Potts ● Peter Robinson ●  Penelope Shuttle ● George Ttoouli ● Anthony Wilson. For more about the anthology and to order a copy, see here.

Tuesday 7 April, Beyond Words, Gipsy Hill Tavern, London

Isobel Dixon is reading with John Harley at the regular Beyond Words night at the Gipsy Hill Tavern, 79 Gipsy Hill, SE19 1QH. Map here.

Doors open 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Entry £4 / £3 concs.

The Gipsy Hill Tavern is 50 yards from Gipsy Hill Mainline Railway Station

Monday 1 December, In the Heat of Shadows, Shakespeare & Co, Paris

The launch of In the Heat of Shadows, an anthology of South African poetry 1996-2013, edited by Denis Hirson. The readers are: poets from the anthology, Isobel Dixon and Kate Kilalea; a translator of the poetry from the anthology into English, Mike Dickman; Paris-based writers Nancy Huston and Ellen Hinsey; actress Sonia Emmanuel; debating maestro Declan McCavana; and Denis Hirson. Steve Potts will play the saxophone.

7:00 pm, Shakespeare & Co, Paris, 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005. Opposite Notre Dame.

Tuesday 2 December, Pelmeni Poets, London

The eighth in the Pelmeni series featuring Eve Grubin, Kathryn Maris, Nick Murray and Chrissy Williams plus readers from Pelmenis Past (including Isobel Dixon and Liane Strauss). 6.30 for 7.00pm

The Duke of Wellington, 119 Balls Pond Road, London N1 4B
http://www.thedukeofwellingtonn1.com/how-to-find-us/

Saturday 23 August, In Conversation with Cynthia Rogerson, Inverness Book Festival

As well as being a poet, Isobel Dixon is a director of Blake Friedman Literary Agency in London, where she represents prize winning writers from all around the world.  Her most recent collections areThe Tempest Prognosticator and A Fold in the Map. As both a writer and an agent, Isobel draws from her own experience in both worlds. Join Isobel in conversation with Cynthia Rogerson as she talks about her life and her work.

Cynthia Rogerson is a Highland based novelist and short story writer. Her most recent novel, If I Touched the Earth, is published by Black and White. Her story collection, Stepping Out, is from Salt.

11:00, OneTouch Theatre. Seat Prices: £2.00.  Eden Court Friends discount applies.

See more and book tickets here.

Friday 22 August, Agent in Residence Sessions, Inverness Book Festival

Want to get published? Need some advice about submitting your manuscript to an agent? A rare opportunity to have a free one-to-one session with literary agent Isobel Dixon. You can book a 20 minute slot by calling box office in advance or just turn up on the day and there will be a handful of 10 minute slots available towards the end of the session too.  2.00-5.00 pm in the Eden Court Cafe.

Free but ticketed. See more and book tickets here.

Friday 15 August, Six Poets at the Fruitmarket, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

Come hear Rob A. Mackenzie, Andrew Philip, Isobel Dixon, Simon Barraclough, AB Jackson and Chrissy Williams read in what promises to be a very lively night at this event in Edinburgh Festival season.

8:00 pm, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DF. £5

Friday 25 July, The Twilight of the Iguana, Poetry Summer School, London

Birds, beasts, bees and sycamore trees - join me for a safari workshop of critterly creativity. What flora and fauna are you fond or afraid of? What extinct or mythical creature do you want to breathe life into? Beasts Apocalyptic, Evangelistic, familiar and foreign, endangered and extinguished will roam this class - and the shaping of the zoo is up to you.

Venue: The Poetry School, 81 Lambeth Walk, London, SE11 6DX

Date: Friday 25th Jul 2014
Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm

See more details here.

Thursday 12 June, The Interpreter's House launch, The Redroaster, Brighton

Pighog has teamed up with The Interpreter's House to launch issue 56, at the Redroaster Coffee House in Brighton. 

Readings from 12 poets from around the UK, plus an open mic session:
Robert Harper / Richard Skinner / Charlotte Gann / Stephen Payne / Simon Collings / John Kay / Carol De Vaughn / Michaela Ridgway / Sarer Scotthorne / Mick Wood / Isobel Dixon / Paul McGrane

Doors open at 7.45 for an 8 pm start.

Saturday 8 March, ZAPP Reading, Homerton College, Cambridge

South African poets Phillippa Yaa de Villiers and Isobel Dixon will be attending a Teacher's Symposium at Homerton College, hosted by ZAPP (the Southern African Poetry Project), and their reading in the afternoon will be open to the public. 

3:00 pm. The Bamford Room, Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PH. Tea and coffee from 2.45 pm. Directions here.  Free, but to reserve a seat contact Sabine Edwards (sce28@cam.ac.uk)

The Southern African Poetry Project (ZAPP) is a sister project to the pioneering Caribbean Poetry Project. The chief aims of ZAPP are to promote achievement through learning and teaching of southern African poetry (in English) in schools in South Africa and the UK with the desire to instil knowledge, understanding and a love of poetry in young learners. ZAPP is founded on a joint research collaboration between the Centre for Commonwealth Education (CCE) at Cambridge Faculty of Education and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, (WITS), and will also work with the online Poetry Archive to put in place recordings of southern African poetry as a resource for teachers and learners.

Friday 7 March, Magma 58 Launch, London Review Bookshop, London

Isobel Dixon reading her Magma 58 poems, along with Simon Armitage and other Magma 58 poets. 

7:00 pm. London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL (near the British Museum). Free, but booking a place is essential.  (Wine provided, with donation suggested!)

See more details here.

Thursday 15 August, Six Poets at the Fruitmarket, Fruitmarket Gallery,Edinburgh

Hannah Lowe, Rob Mackenzie, Andrew Philip, Richard Price, Isobel Dixon & Jasmine Donahaye.

8:00, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DF. £5

See more details here

Saturday 3 August The Debris Field at 'Filmpoem Festival', Dunbar Town House, Dunbar, Scotland

I will be performing a two-person version of our multi-media show about the Titanic, 'The Debris Field' with Simon Barraclough. Visit the Filmpoem Festival website for more details.

Wednesday 12 June, Pelmeni Poets Reading

As part of the Pelmeni Poets series, a reading with Isobel Dixon, Sheenagh Pugh, Martina Evans, Astrid Alben, Fawsi Karim.

Saturday 8 June, The Role of the Literary Agent, Birkbeck Writing Industry Day, London

10.00am – 11.30pm Panel Discussion with Isobel Dixon and Kevin Conroy Scott

How do you go about finding an agent? What can first-time authors expect from agents and publishers? In this session, chaired by Benjamin Wood, literary agents Isobel Dixon (Blake Friedmann Literary Agency) and Kevin Conroy Scott (Tibor Jones & Associates) discuss the process of submitting work, and the roles of the agent in the publishing industry. Time will be allocated at the end of the session for questions. This event is for 3rd year students on the BA Creative Writing Programme only.

Wednesday 22 May, Getting Published in the Digital Age, Birkbeck Arts Week, London

Writers Hub presents: Getting published in the Digital Age: a panel of industry experts including Isobel Dixon (Director, Blake Friedmann Literary Agency), Ted Hodgkinson (Online Editor, Granta) and Rebecca Swift (Director, The Literary Consultancy). Full details here.

Time: 18:00-19:20
Venue: B04, 43-46 Gordon Square, London

Birkbeck Arts Week is open to anyone with an interest in arts and culture and all events are free to attend.

Monday 20 May, Guest Poet at Off the Wall Series, A Touch of Madness, Observatory, Cape Town 

Isobel Dixon is reading as guest poet at this popular series, with open mic after the guest slot.

Front dining room, A Touch of Madness Victorian Quaffery
12 Nuttall Road (between Station Road and Trill Road, on the mountain side), Observatory, Cape Town
Map and directions.

Sunday 19 May,  Poetry, Film, Travel & More - Reading & Conversation with Joan Hambidge at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, South Africa

Poet, academic and critic Joan Hambidge (Lot se vrou) and poet and literary agent Isobel Dixon (The Tempest Prognosticator) share poems and talk about their own poetic craft as well as the nurturing of new talent.

11.30 -12:30 - Event Number 79 , The Screening Room. Tickets R60.  Book at www.webtickets.co.za

Saturday 18 May, Karoo Mosaic at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, South Africa

Tim Cohen talks to writers whose books give intimate glimpses into Karoo lives: poet and activist Sydda Essop (Karoo Kitchen), poet Isobel Dixon (The Tempest Prognosticator) and Carol Campbell (My Childen Have Faces, about karretjie people).

11.30 -12:30 - Event Number 49, Hospice Hall. Tickets R60.  Book at www.webtickets.co.za

Tuesday 30 April, Poetry reading and discussion about the book trade at the University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth

Isobel Dixon is visiting the University of St Mark & St John to give a poetry reading and to lead a discussion about poetry and the book trade. Full details here.

Wednesday 24 April, Free Publishing Event at the University of Chichester

A publishing panel representing a cross-section of the publishing industry will meet at the University of Chichester for discussion and Q&A. The panel includes Isobel Dixon, Literary Agent and Director with Blake Friedmann Literary Agency; Chris Wellbelove, Literary Agent with Greene & Heaton Literary Agency, Philip Patterson, Literary Agent with Marjacq Scripts Literary Agency; Anna Kelly, Assistant Editor with Hamish Hamilton/Penguin; Candida Lacey, Managing Director of independent publisher, Myriad Editions; and Sasha Dugdale, Editor of the journal, Modern Poetry in Translation.

The event is part of the English Department’s MA Programme in Creative Writing.

6.30- 8.30pm, Cloisters Chamber, Bishop Otter Campus, University of Chichester,  College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6PE.

Free event, 45 minute discussion, break for refreshments, 45 minutes open Q&A.

More details are available from Karen: k.stevens@chi.ac.uk (01243) 816297(01243) 816297  or email: k.stevens@chi.ac.uk.

Sunday 14 April 'Psycho Poetica' at Bridport Page to Screen Festival

The poetic recreation of Hitchcock's Psycho, performed by Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Joe Dunthorne, with a new score by Oli Barrett. Part of the Bridport Page to Screen Festival's Psycho Sunday.

Bridport Arts Centre, 8 p.m. Full details and booking here.  

Sunday 7 April 2013, Doppelgänger at King's Place, London

Free pre-concert poetry with music in the King's Place foyer. To live music accompaniment, Isobel Dixon will read her poem sequence Doppelgänger, which stems from Isobel’s work on the Doppelgänger project with Roberto David Rusconi, whose De Imago (Materia) Sonora is partly inspired by Schubert’s Der Doppelgänger.

The foyer concert is part of the Soundroutes Education Outreach programme for the day.

A film of the poem, by Jack Wake-Walker, will also be shown before the 4 pm Kairos Quartett concert in Hall Two, which features the premiere of De Imago (Materia) Sonora.

2 pm FREE live reading with music.

From 3.30 pm the short film Doppelgänger (words and performance - Isobel Dixon; film - Jack Wake-Walker) will show in Hall 2, before the ticketed event, the EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO des SWR featuring Kairos Quartett: Music in the Space Time Continuum

King's Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG. Box Office on 020 7520 1490020 7520 1490 .

Thursday 21 February 2013, The Debris Field & More at The Rich Mix, London

The Debris Field: Salvaging the Titanic in Word, Sound & Image is a multi-media production about theRMS Titanic, written and performed by poets Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe. The evocative poetic text is accompanied by original music from Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative, and film by Jack Wake-Walker.  The show premiered at the BFI Southbank on 14 April 2012, the centenary of the ship's sinking, and has toured to the Ledbury Poetry Festival and Liverpool. It returns to London in early 2013, to the Rich Mix in Bethnal Green Road.

The first half of the evening will consist of new multi-media work from all The Debris Field participants: Isobel Dixon, Chris McCabe, Simon Barraclough, Oli Barrett and Jack Wake-Walker. The Debris Field (a 45 minute performance) will feature after the interval.

Watch the trailer here and see here for reviews and more on the production

7:00 pm, The Rich Mix, 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA. Directions here.

Wednesday 5 December, Albion Beatnik Bookshop Reading, Oxford

As part of the Albion Beatnik Bookshops autumn season of poetry and music, Isobel Dixon, Simon Barraclough and Roisin Tierney will be reading in this iconic Oxford bookshop.

The Albion Beatnik is an  enthusiastic independent bookshop in Jericho, Oxford, established in 2008. It has an eclectic collection of titles ranging from American pulp to Beatnik poetry and was described by the Sunday Times as the "best bookshop in Oxford." It opens until 11.00pm at least four nights a week and hosts a series of poetry and music events.

Isobel, Simon and Roisin are all included in the group pamphlets Unfold, Ask For It By Name, and The Art of Wiring.

The Albion Beatnik Bookshop, 34 Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AA (on Walton Street, just north of the junction with Little Clarendon Street).

7:30 pm, £4 entry.

Monday 26 November, Psycho Poetica Anthology Launch, BFI Southbank

I’m delighted that the poems of the Psycho Poetica project, which debuted in April 2010, have now been collected in a beautiful illustrated anthology from Sidekick Books. Edited by Simon Barraclough, the anthology features 16 poets and 18 poems – with a 'Main Feature' and 'Alternate Takes'.

Poets featured in the book, in order of appearance, are Matthew Welton, Dzifa Benson, Simon Barraclough, Heather Phillipson, Richard Price, Jane Draycott, Emily Berry, Chris McCabe, Joe Dunthorne, Luke Heeley, Isobel Dixon, Annie Freud, Roddy Lumsden, Liane Strauss, John Stammers, Catherine Smith. A few randomly selected poets (not the full cast) will read from the book on the night.

Come and celebrate with the poets, publishers and friends in the BFI’s Blue Room (the show’s first performance venue) on Monday 26 November. There’ll be live Psycho-inspired music from the original string quartet – Oli Barrett, Clarissa Carlyon, Simon Trevethick and Phil Noyce, and Psychoplaying in the background on several screens.

The BFI Southbank, Blue Room (upstairs from BFI ticket desks), Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT

Nearest tubes:  Waterloo and Embankment

Free entry, and cash bar

If you can’t make the event you can see more about the anthology (and order it) via this link.  And for more background on the project and its performances see here.

Thursday 15 November, The Debris Field at The Bluecoat, Liverpool

The Debris Field is a multi-media production about Titanic, written and performed by poets Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe. The evocative poetic text is accompanied by original music from Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative, and film by Jack Wake-Walker.  A resonant journey through the cultural debris of this iconic tragedy, a key historic event explored with striking poetic, musical and visual impact.

Watch the trailer here and see here for reviews and more on the production

Tuesday 23 October, Poetry Digest Launch at The Bell, London

Isobel Dixon reads with other poets at the launch of the latest issue of Poetry Digest, with submissions themed around a line from Isobel's poem'A Beautifully Constructed Cocktail': 'a way of slipping poetry into the bloodstream'.

7:30, The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street, City of London, London, E1 7EX. Closest tubes Aldgate, Aldgate East and Liverpool Street.

Saturday 20 October, Lancaster Litfest All-Day Poetry Shindig, LICA

Crossing Hemispheres: Isobel Dixon & Katherine Kilalea - readings from two poets born in South Africa and working in London

1:30-2:30pm, LICA ((Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts), Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW

Friday 28 September, Psycho Poetica at Visible & Invisible Authorships Conference, The University of York

Simon Barraclough & Isobel Dixon will be keynote speakers at 'Visible & Invisible Authorships' - the 7th Annual Conference of the Association of Adaptation Studies, 27-28 September, the University of York. The poets will read work specially written for Simon Barraclough's Psycho Poetica project, commissioned by the BFI, which premiered in 2010 for the 50th anniversary of Hitchcock's seminal thriller. Simon and Isobel will discuss the project's development and the inspiration of film for poetry. A new anthology of all the poems will be available, published by Sidekick Books. Other keynote speakers at the conference will be David Nicholls (writer and adapter of One Day, Great Expectations) and Thomas Leitch (Film Adaptation and Its Discontents). For more on Psycho Poetica see here.

Friday 28 September, 11:20-12:05. For more details on the conference, see here.

Thursday 16 August, Six Poets at the Fruitmarket, Fruitmarket Gallery,Edinburgh

Chris McCabe, Rob Mackenzie, Andrew Philip, Tony Williams, Isobel Dixon & Kapka Kassabova.

7:30, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DF. £5

Sunday, 8 July, 3:AM Magazine & Maintenant present Camarade III at the Nova Festival

The Maintenant Camarade series brings pairs of writers together in collaboration for a night of cutting edge contemporary poetry. Simon Barraclough and Isobel Dixon performed their film-inspired piece 'Much Ado About Marnie' and the following pairs of poets read original work written for Camarade III.

George Szirtes & Carol Watts; Jeff Hilson & Robert Shepherd; Emma Bennett & Holly Pester; Andy Spragg & David Berridge; Maria Ferencuhova & Francis Kruk;Tim Atkins & Harry Gilonis;Marcus Slease & Richard Barrett; Simon Barraclough & Isobel Dixon

Saturday, 7 July, 3:AM Magazine & Maintenant present Camarade III at the Rich Mix

7:00 pm, The Rich Mix, 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA. Directions here.

Free.

The Maintenant Camarade series brings pairs of writers together in collaboration for a night of cutting edge contemporary poetry. Simon Barraclough and Isobel Dixon performed their film-inspired piece 'Much Ado About Marnie' and the following pairs of poets read original work written for Camarade III:

Iain Sinclair & Tom Chivers; Philip Terry & Allen Fisher; Jeff Hilson & Robert Shepherd;Chris McCabe &  Tom Jenks; Emma Bennett & Holly Pester; Andy Spragg & David Berridge; Maria Ferencuhova & Francis Kruk; Tim Atkins & Harry Gilonis; Marcus Slease & Richard Barrett; Simon Barraclough & Isobel Dixon

Sunday, 1 July 2012: Ledbury Poetry Festival, 20 minutes with ... Isobel Dixon

Just after noon... 12.15 pm - 12.35pm, Shell House Gallery. Free. (Event #20)

Sunday, 1 July 2012: The Debris Field: Salvaging the Titanic in Word, Sound & Image - at Ledbury Poetry Festival

7.45-8.45 pm, The Market Theatre. £8. (Event #29.)

The Debris Field is a multi-media production written and performed by poets Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe. The evocative poetic text is accompanied by original music from Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative, and film by Jack Wake-Walker.  A resonant journey through the cultural debris of this iconic tragedy, exploring ideas of luxury and labour; courage and folly; life and loss; and human ambition in the face of nature’s power. A key historic event explored with striking poetic, musical and visual impact.

Watch the trailer here and see here for reviews and more on the production.

Saturday, 30 June, Salt Celebration at Poetry Parnassus, Southbank Centre

1:00 pm in the Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX. Free event. Directions here.

Salt poets Kayo Chingonyi, Isobel Dixon, Emily Hasler & Chris McCabe read in this free event as part of the Poetry Parnassus Festival at the Southbank.

11-13 May 2012: Franschhoek Literary Festival, Franschhoek, South Africa

I'm looking forward to reading at two events at this warm-hearted South African literary festival in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Saturday 12 May 2012: Favourite Poems

Poets Finuala Dowling, Isobel Dixon, Leon de Kock and Gus Ferguson each share and discuss a favourite poems with an intimate audience in The Screening Room. 

10:00- 11:00 a.m. The Screening Room. Tickets R60. Book tickets here.

Sunday 13 May 2012: The Lyric 'I'

Finuala Dowling introduces a discussion between poets Ingrid de Kok (whose latest collection is Other Signs) and Isobel Dixon (whose latest collection is The Tempest Prognosticator).

 2:30- 3:30 p.m. The Screening Room. Tickets R60. Book tickets here.

14 April 2012: The Debris Field: Salvaging the Titanic in Word, Sound & Image

Part of the BFI's Titanic season, S.O.S The Titanic Centenary, The Debris Field is a new multi-media production written and performed by poets Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe. The evocative poetic text is accompanied by original music from Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative, and film by Jack Wake-Walker. This production is being performed for the first time a hundred years from the night that Titanic struck the fatal iceberg. The poets will take you on a resonant tour of the cultural debris of this iconic tragedy, exploring ideas of luxury and labour; courage and folly; life and loss; and human ambition in the face of nature’s power. A key historic event explored with striking poetic, musical and visual impact. Watch the trailer here.

7:30 - 8:30, The Blue Room, British Film Institute (upstairs, above ticket office), £6. Book tickets here. Directions here.

Sunday 18 March 2012: StAnza Poetry Festival 2012, St Andrews, Scotland

I was delighted to read at two events on the final day of Scotland's international poetry festival.

Sunday 18 March 2012: Border Crossings at StAnza, with Isobel Dixon and Ghayath Almadhoun

This final reading in StAnza's Border Crossings series brings together two prize-winning poets from very different backgrounds. Isobel Dixon was born in South Africa, studied in Scotland, and now lives and works in England. She reads with Ghayath Almadhoun who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and in 2008 emigrated to Sweden where he is now resident. Full details here.

2.15-3.15pm, The Undercroft, St John's House, South Street, £3.00/£2.00

Sunday 18 March 2012: Psycho Poetica at StAnza

A special 'portable' version of 2010's 16-performer Psycho Poetica show, featuring Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Joe Dunthorne. 12 poems, 3 readers, original music recreating Hitchcock's classic. Full details here.

5:00 - 5:45 p.m., The Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Studio Theatre, £5.00/£3.00

Thursday 22 February 2012: Reading at The Hefter Centre, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

7:00 pm at The Hefter Centre, Hartford & Lake, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Entrance free.

Saturday 18 February 2012: 'Echoes, Ripples, Whispers - Breath, Voice and Persona' - Poetry School Workshop in Brighton

What do Mervyn Peake, the Mary Celeste and Marilyn Monroe have in common? They’ll all pop up in this workshop designed to refresh and inspire you, both in creating work on the page, and in sharing it with confidence. You’ll read and discuss published poems as a springboard, use exercises to experiment with poetic voice, draft and workshop new poems, and have the chance to receive supportive feedback on improving performance skills. After this day workshop of listening, writing, reading, and exploring identities mistaken, doubled and assumed, you’ll go away with fresh ideas and a greater awareness of your own voice potential.

Venue: New Writing South (The Writers' Place), 9 Jew Street, Brighton, BN1 1UT, Tel: 01273 73535301273 735353 . More info here.

Date: Saturday 18th Feb 2012; Time: 10.30am-4.30pm.

Full cost: £57.00; 60+: £45.00; Concs: £34.00. Buy tickets here.

Saturday 18 February 2012: 4 Poets at the Redroaster, Brighton

Catherine Smith, Simon Barraclough, John McCullough & Isobel Dixon read from new collections and new work.

Saturday 18th Feb 2012; Time: 7.45 pm.

Redroaster, 1d St. James Street, Brighton BN2 1RE. £5/£3

Monday 12 December: Barraclough, Dixon and Maxwell at The Compass

Closing the Compass poetry season for 2011, with Glyn Maxwell, Isobel Dixon and Simon Barraclough. Come along for a drink and a pre-Christmas catch-up, and readings, including some new work, from three poets. The Compass serves good food, and there are many eateries near by for a bite to eat before or after.

7:30 p.m., The Compass, 58 Penton Street, Islington, London N1 9PZ. Closest tube is Angel. Map here.

Saturday 3 December: Bristol launch of 'The Art of Wiring', Foyles at Cabot Circus, Bristol

This evening sees the Bristol launch of The Art of Wiring, a sparky selection of poems all wired into a beautiful new limited edition multi-circuit pamphlet, published by Ondt & Gracehoper. Join us for readings from Liane Strauss, Simon Barraclough, Luke Heeley, Isobel Dixon, Roisin Tierney andCosta Winner Christopher Reid.

6:00 - 7.30 p.m Foyles, 6 Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus, Bristol, BS1 3BU. Map here.

Free entry, but book on the Foyles Bristol site or email cabotcircus@foyles.co.uk.

Saturday 26 November: Agent Seminar and One-to-One at Writers' Centre Norwich

A morning talk with informal Q&A with Isobel Dixon of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency about their role representing a broad range of fiction and non-fiction writers from around the world. You’ll get an insight into what they look out for and which approaches work and why - and which don't. There will be a chance to discuss your experiences with Isobel and your fellow writers, as well as a 20 minute one-to-one feedback session looking at your work and how to approach an agent.

10am-12pm: seminar, lunch break, then afternoon 20 min one-to-one sessions.

Writers’ Centre Norwich, 14 Princes Street, Norwich, NR3 1AE. Tel: +44 (0)1603 877177+44 (0)1603 877177 . General: info[at]writerscentrenorwich.org.uk

£50 (£40 concessions). Book online here. for this popular writers' development workshop.

Monday 21 November 2011: Atlantic Crossing at The Compass with August Kleinzahler

International award-winning poet August Kleinzahler, over from the US, features in the latest of this occasional series of evenings at the Compass in Islington, featuring visiting poets from abroad. Kleinzahler's reading will hosted by (and with short readings from) hosts Isobel Dixon and Simon Barraclough. Come along in good time, it promises to be a busy night!

7:30 p.m., The Compass, 58 Penton Street, Islington, London N1 9PZ. Closest tube is Angel. Map here.

£5 entry.

Thursday 10 November: Isobel Dixon at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate

An event for poetry lovers young and old, and also ideal for any prospective or current AS/A2 English students. Isobel's poem 'Plenty' has been included in the IGCSE anthology for English literature examinations, and her work has been taught in schools around the world.

7:00 p.m., The School Library, St Lawrence College, College Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 7AE. Map here. Tel: +44 184 357 2900+44 184 357 2900. Email: hm@slcuk.com

Free and open to all.

Monday 3 October: Nurkse, Strauss, Dixon, Barraclough at The Compass

Second in an occasional series of UK/US poetry readings at The Compass near Angel Islington, we welcome Forward shortlisted poet D. Nurkse. Dennis's book 'Voices Over Water' (CB Editions) is up for this year's Forward Best Collection prize and this is a great opportunity to see Dennis read in the UK. He will be supported by three Salt poets: Liane Strauss ('Leaving Eden'), Isobel Dixon ('The Tempest Prognosticator') and Simon Barraclough ('Neptune Blue'). Kick off around 7pm.

7:00 p.m., The Compass, 58 Penton Street, Islington, London N1 9PZ. Closest tube is Angel. Map here.

Saturday 1 October: Poetry Workshop at Writers' Centre Norwich

Is your poetry in need of a revitalised approach? Do you think your methods are becoming a tad sober? Take a dram of poetry inspiration in this day workshop with South African poet, Isobel Dixon.

10 a.m - 4 p.m.

Writers’ Centre Norwich, 14 Princes Street, Norwich, NR3 1AE. Tel: +44 (0)1603 877177+44 (0)1603 877177. General: info[at]writerscentrenorwich.org.uk

£50 (£40 concessions).

Tuesday 27 September 2011: Johannesburg Launch of The Tempest Prognosticator at Love Books, Melville, Johannesburg.

5.30 for 6:00 p.m., Love Books, 53 Rustenburg Road (Cnr. 9th Street), Meville, Johannesburg.

Friday 23 September 2011: Cape Town Launch Event for The Tempest Prognosticator at the Open Book Festival

6 p.m. - 7 p.m., The Fugard Studio, As part of the Open Book Festival this is a ticketed event.Tickets cost R30. Book tickets here.

Wednesday 21 September 2011: Open Book Poetry at the Rococo

Finuala Dowling, Isobel Dixon, Gus Ferguson & Liesl Jobson read from their work. No need to book, just come and listen!

8.30 p.m at the Rococo Studio, 38 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town. Free.

Thursday 15 September 2011: The Tempest Prognosticator Poetry and Art Event, ArtKaroo Gallery, Oudtshoorn

6 p.m. Welcome drinks sponsored by Dido Wines. Paying bar after.

ArtKaroo Gallery, 107 Baron van Reede Street, Oudtshoorn, Tel: 044 2791093

Tuesday, 13 September 2011: Great Karoo Launch of The Tempest Prognosticator, Graaff-Reinet

6 p.m. - 8.30 p.m. Graaff-Reinet Club, Church Square. Welcome drinks sponsored by Dido Wines. Paying bar after.

Thursday 1 September 2011: The Art of Wiring Party at The Electricity Showrooms

A sparky selection of poems from six poets, wired into a beautiful new multi-circuit pamphlet, The Art of Wiring, published by Ondt & Gracehoper. Short readings from Christopher Reid, Roisin Tierney, Liane Strauss, Isobel Dixon, Luke Heeley and Simon Barraclough, and partying after, with some electrifying DJing by Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative and Petrels.

The Electricity Showrooms, 39a Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, London, N1 6NN. Map here.

Switch on at 7.00 p.m.

News of the event on Elizabeth Baines' blog and Katy Evans-Bush's Ms Baroque blog.

Monday 15 August 2011: Early Word at Captains Bar, Edinburgh

An early morning reading and Q&A session with Isobel Dixon, in an intimate and historic venue with literary connections. Doors open 9 a.m., poetry at 9.30 a.m. The price includes wake-up coffee and cake.

9.30 - 10.30 a.m. at Captains Bar, 4 South College Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AA. Tickets: £5.50 (£4.50)

Tuesday 16 August 2011: Bonham's Ten at Ten, Edinburgh International Book Festival

A quick, free, ten minute poetry reading by Isobel Dixon, to kickstart your festival day.

10:00 a.m. - 10.10 a.m, Writer's Retreat, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Charlotte Square Gardens (at the west end of George Street, a minute away from Princes Street). Free, but tickets can be booked in advance.

Tuesday 16 August 2011: Fruitmarket Gallery Reading, Edinburgh

Featuring Helen Mort, Isobel Dixon, Helen Ivory, Simon Barraclough, Andrew Phillip and Rob Mackenzie

7:30 p.m. for 8 p.m. at the Fruitmarket Gallery, £3 entry.

Wednesday 10 August 2011: Herbs-Words-Wilderness at The Urban Physic Garden

A prose and poetry sandwich of urban nature writing (with a folk music dressing), celebrating the glory of growing things, wild London and herbal medicine.

1-2pm, Urban Physic Garden, 100 Union Street, SE1. Free entry.

Author Helen Babbs will read from her just published first book, My Garden, the City and Me: Rooftop Adventures in the Wilds of London. Poets James Wilkes, Chris McCabe, Isobel Dixon, Sarah Kelly, Matt Martin and Chrissy Williams will read from the newly published poetry anthology, Herbarium. Plus live acoustic music from the marvellous Monooka before and after. Books and zines will be on sale in the garden (cash only).

Tuesday 19 July 2011: Salt Plus at the Betsey Trotwood

Roddy Lumsden's series of readings by poets with new collections, published by Salt and others. With Claire Trevien, Isobel Dixon, Abi Curtis, Tamar Yoseloff and Simon Barraclough.

7.30 pm at the Betsey Trotwood,56 Farringdon Rd, Clerkenwell, London, EC1R 3BL. Free.

Sunday 10 July 2011: Betsey Trotwood Summer All-Dayer

A free afternoon and evening of poetry in the Betsey Trotwood pub. 56 Farringdon Rd, Clerkenwell, London, EC1R 3BL. Beer, food, poems, and a poetry quiz. Organised by Roddy Lumsden's 'BroadCast', Tim Wells' 'Rising' and Andy Ching's 'Donut Press'. The day’s events will start at 3pm and end around 10pm with timings as follows, so pop in as you like:

3-4 pm: Short readings from poets with recent collections: Clare Pollard, Roddy Lumsden, Kate Potts, Katy Evans-Bush

4-5pm Clinic Poets: highlights from their new anthology

5-6pm Poetry Quiz & Pete Brown

6-7 pm Short readings from poets with recent collections: Simon Barraclough, James Goodman, Jacqui Saphra, Tamar Yoseloff and Isobel Dixon.

7-8pm She Swears It Well: Ashna Sarkar, Sophie Cameron and Josephine Seblon.

8-9pm Chelsey Girls - - a Chelsey Minnis Tribute, with fans reading their favourite Minnis pieces, plus poems inspired by poetry's greatest dental nurse!

9-10 pm: Poets Isobel Dixon, Kate Potts, Nia Davies, Edward Mackay, Amy Key, Simon Barraclough and Roddy Lumsden read from Sidekick Books' recent Birdbook anthology, edited by Jon Stone and Kirsten Irving.

Thursday, 14 July 2011: London Launch of The Tempest Prognosticator

Thursday 9 and Friday 10 June 2011: University of Salzburg's South African Word Feast, Salzburg, Austria

In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the University Partnership Programme Salzburg- Stellenbosch, the University of Salzburg is hosting a 'South African Word Feast', with lectures, creative writing and poetry translation workshops, with writers and academics Denis Hirson, Isobel Dixon, Edwin Hees, Sarah Nuttall, and Daniel Roux, and musician Brendan Adams.

Opening event on Thursday 9 June at Schloss Leopoldskron, with Friday 10 June's workshops and evening poetry reading by Denis Hirson and Isobel Dixon at Atelier im Kunstquartier. Hosted by Dr. Dorothea Steiner, Associate Professor of the Department of English and American Studies, with Wolfgang Goertschacher of Poetry Salzburg Review, Andreas Schachermayr and Markus Oppolzer. Full programme of workshops and readings here.

Thursday, 19 May 2011: Poetry at The Compass - Barraclough, Dixon, McCabe, Fried, Read, Wormser

Phil Fried and Baron Wormser are over from the States, Sally Read is flying in from Rome and Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe will be tubing it to this splendid Islington pub for an eclectic night of poetry. The poets will read for 15 minutes each and there will be time to enjoy The Compass's two bars and the really excellent food. Lots of other bars and eateries nearby too.

7:00 p.m., The Compass, 58 Penton Street, Islington, London N1 9PZ. Closest tube is Angel. Map here.

Friday 8 April 2011: Painted, Spoken Live at the Wheatsheaf.

Isobel Dixon, David Kinloch, Peter McCarey and Richard Price read new work in a night of poetry and fiction by contributors to Painted,spoken. Hosted by the magazine's editor, poet and novelist Richard Price.

7:00 p.m. The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London,W1T 1DG. Closest tube is Goodge Street, as Tottenham Court Road is closed. Map here.

Thursday 14 April 2011: Alien Nation Literary Night, Great Western Studios.

Literary Night for Alien Nation, an exhibition by and about all the aliens who call London home; featuring art, music and more inspired by George Mikes’s book How to be an Alien. Isobel Dixon will be performing along with Dzifa Benson, Reg Starkey and Sarah Lyall. Presented by Turid Weingartz and Soapbox Events.

7:00 p.m. Great Western Studios, 65 Alfred Road, London W2 5EU. Nearest Tubes Westbourne Park & Royal Oak (Hammersmith & City and Circle Lines). Map and info here.

Sunday 17 April 2011: Cambridge Wordfest panels on publishing and poetry.

Edge of the Abyss or a New Golden Age in Publishing?

Will ebooks, Googlebooks and Amazon save or destroy literary publishing? How can writers find their readers and how can publishers help them? Our panel of distinguished publishers and agents will help make sense of the emerging literary landscape: Alex Bowler is senior editor at Jonathan Cape, Isobel Dixon is a director of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and Ailah Ahmed is a senior editor at Canongate. Chaired by Rachel Calder, Director, Sayle Literary Agency

Sunday 17 April, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. in the Cambridge Union Blue Room. Map and info here. Book tickets here.

The Business of Poetry

Poet and literary agent Isobel Dixon chairs a panel on the publishing of poetry, with panelist publishers Neil Astley of Bloodaxe and Chris Hamilton-Emery of Salt. A first-hand account of the state of poetry publishing today.

Sunday, 17 April, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. in the Cambridge Union Blue Room. Map and info here. Book tickets here.

Monday 14 March, Magma 49 Launch at the Troubadour.

The launch reading for Magma 49, edited by Julia Bird with the theme ‘Build It Up and Knock It Down’. Poets published in Magma 49, including Isobel Dixon, Jon Stone, John McCullough, Anja Konig, Susan Wicks and Denise Saul read their work together with W.N. Herbert and Jackie Wills.

See Isobel's Magma 49 poem here.

Readings in 2010:

Monday 29 November 2010: Poetry from Art at Tate Modern.

A reading by poets who attended Pascale Petit's autumn Poetry from Art course at Tate Modern.

6.30 - 8.30 p.m. Free.

Poetry & Dream, Level 3, Tate Modern, Bankside SE1 9TG.

Saturday 27 November 2010: “Have Poets Will Travel” – Travel BookshopResidency Reading.

Richard Price, Simon Barraclough and Isobel Dixon reading new poems inspired by their one-day residencies at the Travel Bookshop.

6.30 p.m. doors for 7 p.m. start. £5 entry.

The Travel Bookshop, 13-15 Blenheim Crescent, Notting Hill, W11 2EE.

Sunday 24 October 2010: Psycho Poetica at the South Bank

A fourth outing for the 50th anniversary Psycho collaboration, featuring Simon Barraclough, Dzifa Benson, Emily Berry, Isobel Dixon, Joe Dunthorne, Jane Draycott, Luke Heeley, Chris McCabe, Heather Phillipson, Richard Price, Catherine Smith and Matthew Welton. New score from Bleeding Heart Narrative.

4 p.m. St Paul's Pavilion, South Bank Centre, London, Tickets: £7.50.

Monday 18 October 2010: The Albion Beatnik Bookshop Reading in Oxford

Reading featuring Alan Buckley, Isobel Dixon, Simon Barraclough and Giles Goodland.

8 p.m.The Albion Beatnik Bookshop, 34 Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AA (on Walton Street, just north of the junction with Little Clarendon Street).

Monday 21 September 2010: Authors for Peace, World Peace Day Reading

24 hour live online event hosted by Priya Basil and supported by the Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin, featuring 15-minute readings from writers around the world, including Brian Chikwava, Rana Dasgupta, Isobel Dixon, Maxine Hong Kingston, Zukiswa Wanner, Kamila Shamsie and others to be confirmed.

Monday 23 August 2010: Edinburgh Free Fringe Festival: Utter! Salt Poets

Two hour special featuring Simon Barraclough, Julia Bird, Isobel Dixon, Mark Granier, Eleanor Rees, Andrew Philip, Rob Mackenzie and Ryan van Winkle.

6.30 p.m. Venue 156: The Banshee Labyrinth (Banqueting Hall), 29-35 Niddry Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LG. Free entry.

Sunday 18 July 2010, Myths, Maps, and The Heroic Heart, Nelson Mandela Day at the British Museum

18 July is international Nelson Mandela Day. Celebrate South African culture and the legacy of Nelson Mandela with music and dance performances, talks, poetry and storytelling. Free events throughout the day.

Isobel Dixon will be reading at 11.30 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 1:30. All events are free. See more here.

Sunday 18 July 2010, Psycho Poetica at the Latitude Festival

Come and join us in the Poetry Arena on Sunday evening at 7:20 p.m. for a third performance of Psycho Poetica. Twelve poets recreate Hitchcock's classic with musical support from Bleeding Heart Narrative. Readers include: Simon Barraclough, Dzifa Benson, Emily Berry, Isobel Dixon, Joe Dunthorne, Jane Draycott, Luke Heeley, Annie Freud, Chris McCabe, Heather Phillipson, Richard Price and Matthew Welton. More details here.

Wednesday 14 July 2010, Loose Muse at the Poetry Cafe

8 p.m. The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2. Closest tube: Covent Garden.

£5.00/£3.00 concessions.

Isobel Dixon and Tania Hershman read at London's regular event for women writers of all genres. Hosted by Sara-Mae Tuson. More info here.

21 - 26 June 2010, Worlds Literature Festival, Norwich

A week-long symposium of seminars and public events organised by the Writers' Centre Norwich, with international writers including J M Coetzee, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Gabeba Baderoon, Kate Kilalea, Michelle de Kretser, Christopher Merrill, M J Hyland, Neel Mukherjee, Isobel Dixon and others.

Thursday 24 June 2010, Refreshing Your Appetite for Poetry, Workshop with Isobel Dixon, Worlds Literature Festival Norwich

4.15 - 6.15 pm. Writers’ Centre Norwich, 14, Princes Street, Norwich, NR3 1AE

£25/£20 concessions

"This workshop will help you focus on enjoyable exercises for leaping into the poem, using objects and images and other devices to refresh your practice."

14-16 May 2010 Franschhoek Literary Festival

Saturday 15 May, 'Secret Agents'

Literary agent Isobel Dixon and literary scout Rebecca Servadio provide an insight into their roles in the publishing industry.

11:30 - 12:30, Hospice Hall.Tickets R60 (R20 for students), proceeds to the FLF Library Fund.

Sunday 15 May 'Toktokkie, King Kong & the Orang-utan: Isobel Dixon Reads Poems from A Fold in the Map and Beyond'

10:00 - 11:00 a.m. The Screening Room. Tickets R60 (R20 for students), proceeds to the FLF Library Fund.

Wednesday 28 April 2010, 'Feast on Words' reading as part of the Kings Cross Reveal Festival, London

Poetic readings in celebration of food, with Simon Barraclough, Tim Wells, Agnes Lehoczky and others.

6.30 - 7.30, link here. Other details to follow.

Thursday 22 April 2010, Reading with Welsh poets in Cardiff Bay

Isobel Dixon replaced Antjie Krog (who could not travel from South Africa due to the volcanic disruptions) at this reading with Welsh poets Menna Elfyn, Nigel Jenkins, Paul Henry and Elin ap Hywel

7.00pm - 8.30pm Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay, Wales. Organised by the British Council in partnership with Academi and Wales Arts International, as part of the 'One Nation Many Voices' Market Focus on South Africa at the London Book Fair 2010.

Wednesday 21 April 2010, Andre Brink In Conversation with Isobel Dixon, Foyles Bookshop, London

6.30 - 8.00 p.m. Foyles, Charing Cross Road. Map and info here.

Monday 19 April 2010, Soweto Kinch and Bra Willie present Salon Shebeen, Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London

This event unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the disruption of flights by volcano! What would have been: A night of words and music with an eclectic constellation of South African talents. Southbank Centre's Salon Shebeen features an unmissable collaboration across generations between jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch and South African Poet Laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile (Bra Willie); an audience with living legacy Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout (Pieter-Dirk Uys); and poetry, readings and performance from Malika Ndlovu, Ndumiso Ngobo, Isobel Dixon, Sihle Khumalo and Nadia Davids.

In partnership with the South African Department of Arts and Culture, British Council, and London Book Fair as part of the One Nation, Many Voices Programme.

7.30 p.m. Queen Elizabeth Hall. Venue info here. Tickets £12. Book here.

Saturday 10 April 2010, Psycho Poetica #1 at the British Film Institute, London

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hitchcock's seminal slasher and its influence on many art forms, twelve poets have carved up the film between them and created a new poetic interpretation. Their collective re-imagining will be performed presently in the Delegate's Room at the BFI, and some of the poets will introduce screenings of the original feature in April. What rich and strange new version of ‘Psycho’ will twelve distinctive poetic visions produce?

Devised by Simon Barraclough with support from LOVEFiLM and featuring Simon Barraclough, Jane Draycott, John Stammers, Annie Freud, Matthew Welton, Isobel Dixon, Roddy Lumsden, Dzifa Benson, Chris McCabe, Luke Heeley, Heather Phillipson and Joe Dunthorne.

7.30 p.m., BFI Delegates Centre, £5 entry fee. Map here.

Wednesday 31 March 2010, Three Graces at the Wheatsheaf

Three poets join forces for poems both graceful and disgraceful... Readings from Roisin Tierney, Sally Read and Isobel Dixon. Introduced by gracious host Simon Barraclough.

7:00 p.m. The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1JB.

Nearest Tube, Tottenham Court Rd. £3 at the door.

Monday 8 March 2010, Magma 46 launch at The Troubadour

Celebrating the launch of Magma 46, edited by Jacqueline Saphra and Norbert Hirschhorn, with a wide selection of Magma 46 contributors and two guest poets, Anne-Marie Fyfe and Penelope Shuttle.

8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Downstairs at The Troubadour, 263-267 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5.

More event info here and venue and map here.

Tuesday 9 February 2010, CB1 Reading at Michaelhouse

with Richard Berengarten.

8:00 p.m., Michaelhouse Cafe, Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB2 1SU.

More info and map here.

Thursday 28 January 2010, Succour Salon at the Betsey Trotwood

8:00 p.m. at the Betsey Trotwood Pub, 56 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BL. Free entry.

A night of readings from Succour Issue 10. Featuring poetry and fiction from a line-up including Lee Rourke, Abi Curtis, Cherry Smyth, Gary Cansell, John Clegg, Isobel Dixon and Judy Brown. Maphere.

Readings in 2009:

Tuesday 1 December 2009, Winter Fuel

7:00 p.m., The Duchess, 101 Battersea Park Road, London, SW8 4DS.

Map here. £4 entry.

A spicy mix of voices to warm the winter chill, with readings from Simon Barraclough, Emily Berry, Isobel Dixon, Chris McCabe, Heather Phillipson and Richard Price.

Wednesday and Thursday 28 and 29 October 2009, Durham Book Festival

Wednesday 13:00 - 'Intellectual Property and Agenting' event at the Marriott Hotel.

Thursday 10:00 - Poetry Workshop at the Library.

Monday 26 October 2009, Mesoteric

7:30 p.m. Chez Kristof, 111 Hammersmith Grove, W6 0NQ

An evening of poetry at the Chez Kristof restaurant, hosted by Betsy de Lotbiniere. With Adam O'Riordan, Annie Freud, Isobel Dixon and Betsy de Lotbiniere.

Map here.

Tuesday 29 September 2009, (in)Dignity - Spoken Word in Support of Amnesty International

7:30 p.m., The Castle, 15 Grosvenor Rise East, Walthamstow, London, E17 9LB.

Waltham Forest Amnesty International is proud to present a fantastic evening of spoken word performances - from the tender to the tragic, the serious to the absurd, with poetry, humour and killer ukulele tunes, all in support of Demand Dignity, a global Amnesty International campaign that aims to stop the human rights abuses that keep people poor.

Featuring Darren Hayman, Waen Shepherd, Isobel Dixon, Makola Mayimbika, James Peake, Dan Lewis, Jim Dunk and Ken Barlow.

All proceeds will go towards the Waltham Forest Amnesty International Group.

Thursday, 23 July 2009, On a Trip to Cirrus Minor - Pink Floyd-inspired poetry

7:00 p.m., The Duchess, 101 Battersea Park Road, London, SW8 4DS. Map here. £3 entry.

A rich mix of poetic voices with new work inspired by Pink Floyd albums, read in the shadow of the iconic Battersea Power Station. Featuring Simon Barraclough, Julia Bird, Jude Cowan, Claire Crowther, Isobel Dixon, Katy Evans Bush, Luke Heeley, Patrick Brandon, Amy Key, Roddy Lumsden, Lorraine Marriner, Chris McCabe, Jon Morrison, Helen Mort, Dave Palmer, Heather Phillipson, and George Ttoulli.

Tuesday, 9 June 2009, Verbatim Book Store, Stellenbosch.

Photos for LitNet by Melt Myburgh here.

Saturday 2 May 2009, The Sampler:1

16:30 - 17:30 p.m, The Wilberforce Theatre, Museum of London in Docklands

New afternoon event hosted by Chris Horton, and featuring Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Roddy Lumsden. Directions to Museum in Docklands here.

Friday 24 April 2009, St George's Day Reading #2

7:30 p.m. The Maypole, Cambridge.

24 poets read new poems on England's ceremonial counties - the second of two events.

Thursday 23 April 2009, St George's Day Reading #1

7:30 p.m. The Camden Head, Camden.

24 poets read new poems on England's ceremonial counties - the first of two events.

Wednesday 22 April 2009, Shakespeare Birthday Reading, Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival

7:30 p.m. The Shakespeare Centre, Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6QW.

A celebration on the eve of Shakespeare’s birthday, hosted by, and in aid of, Oxfam Stratford-upon-Avon and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Hosted by trustee Paula Byrne, with Isobel Dixon, Katy Evans-Bush, and Nigel Mcloughlin.

Thursday 5 March 2009, Manhattan Review Launch at Oxfam Marylebone

7:00 p.m. at the Oxfam Books and Music Shop, 91 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 4RB.

Celebrating the The Manhattan Review Fall/Winter 2008-09 issue. Guest readers included the editor, New York poet Phil Fried, Penelope Shuttle and some of the poets featured in the Young British Poets section, selected by Todd Swift, including: Chris McCabe, Zoe Brigley, Jacob Polley, Daljit Nagra, Luke Kennard, Kathryn Simmonds, Emily Berry, Joe Dunthorne, Ben Wilkinson, Sally Read, Isobel Dixon, Jack Underwood, James Byrne, Melanie Challenger, Alex McRae, Helen Mort, and Nathan Hamilton.

Free, but donations to Oxfam encouraged. Map here.

Friday 27 February 2009, Salt vs Donut at the Betsey Trotwood

7:00 p.m. at the Betsey Trotwood Pub, 56 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BL.

Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Mark Waldron battled it out for Salt, vs Tim Turnbull, Tim Wells and Liane Strauss for Donut. Map here.

Thursday 26 February 2009, London Irish Centre, Camden

8:00 p.m. 50-52 Camden Square, London, NW1 9X.

With Gill Andrews, Alan Brownjohn, Marianne Burton, Isobel Dixon, John Mackay and Liane Strauss.Map here.

Monday 26 January 2009, Mesoteric

8:00 p.m. Chez Kristof, 111 Hammersmith Grove, W6 0NQ

An evening of literature and art downstairs at the Chez Kristof restaurant, hosted by Betsy de Lotbiniere. With Matt Cook, Isobel Dixon, Betsy de Lotbiniere, Mischa Haller, and Jamie Warde-Aldam.

Email mesoteric.hq@googlemail.com. Map here.

Readings in 2008:

Tuesday 18 November 2008, Poetry and Publishing

Talk and reading to students at Bath Spa University.

Thursday 13 November 2008, Poetry and Space

6:30 pm, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ

Part of Poet in the City’s ‘Escaping the Matrix’ series at Imperial College. Featuring Diana Syder, Mario Petrucci, Inua Ellams and Isobel Dixon, reading poems on astronomy and space.

Monday 10 November, Lee Rosy's Tea Shop, Nottingham

7:00 p.m. Lee Rosy's Tea Shop, 17 Broad Street, Hockley, NG1 3AJ.

Nottingham University English Society and Creative Writing Society host a reading by Simon Barraclough and Isobel Dixon.

Saturday 25 October 2008, The Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden

7:30 pm, The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2.

Featuring Isobel Dixon, Beatrice Garland, Marianne Burton, Judy Brown, and Christine Webb.

Saturday 11 October 2008, La Langoustine est Morte at the Poetry Cafe

7:30 pm, The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2.

Anthony Joseph and Sascha Akhtar's series, featuring Chris Emery, Graham Buchan, Aymeric Hainaux and Isobel Dixon.

Tuesday 7 October 2008, Merchant Taylors' School

Reading at Merchant Taylors' Independent School for Boys. See photos and info on the event here.

Wednesday 24 September 2008, Ride the Word III: Prose and Poetry at Borders

7:30 - 9:00 pm, Borders, 203-207 Oxford Street, London W1D 2LE.

Featuring novelist and short story writer Charles Lambert, poet Vincent De Souza, Isobel Dixon, short story writer Jay Merrill and Forward short-listed poet Simon Barraclough.

Saturday 13 September 2008, Bristol Poetry Festival

Gabeba Baderoon, Isobel Dixon and Rustum Kozain.

8:00 pm Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA.

Friday 5 September 2008, 'Unspeakably Toothsome' - poems about food at theBetsey Trotwood

8:00 pm, The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Rd, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 3BL.

I will be reading two food poems by other poets, two of my own, along with Julia Bird, Simon Barraclough, Annie Freud, Susan Grindley, Angela Kirby, Roddy Lumsden, Heather Phillipson, John Stammers, Mark Waldron and Tim Wells.

Tuesday 15 July 2008, Clare Hall Literary Society Reading

With Simon Barraclough. 8:00 pm, The Anthony Low Building, Clare Hall, Herschel Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AL, Tel. . Map here.

Saturday 5 July 2008, London Magazine Readings at the O2 Wireless Festival, Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park

4-6pm, O2 Wireless Festival, Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, London.

Readings by London Magazine contributors. With Roddy Lumsden, Katy Evans-Bush, Paul Birtill, Maureen Jivani, Ruth O'Callaghan, Naomi Woodis, Tom Chivers and Aoife Mannix.

Saturday 5 July 2008, Succour Magazine Reading at the Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden

8:00 pm, The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2. With Lee Rourke, William Chadwick and Joe Dunthorne. See some photos from the evening on Lee Rourke's site.

Friday 4 July 2008, Broadcast 50 States Project Readings at the Betsey Trotwood

8:00 pm, The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Rd, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 3BL.

The second of two nights of new poems on America's States, hosted by Roddy Lumsden (following Thursday's event at the Scooterworks Cafe). The Friday 4 July event featured Emily Berry, Luke Heeley, Amy Key, Helen Mort, Ben Morris, Heather Phillipson, Camellia Stafford, Mark Waldron andTamar Yoseloff, among others. I read a new poem on Washington.

CAPE TOWN BOOK FAIR:

Saturday 14 June 2008, on the Jacana Stand

2:00 pm, Book signing on the Jacana stand.

5:00 pm Jacana New Books Celebration, with Eric Miyeni. Photos on on Book SA.

Sunday 15 June 2008, Interview with John Maytham of Cape Talk

12:00 noon, The Forum, Cape Town International Convention Centre.

A Fold in the Map on Bookworm Books of the Week

Wednesday 11 June, Book Lounge, Cape Town with Rustum Kozain and Kelwyn Sole

6.30pm, at Book Lounge, corner of Roeland and Buitenkant Streets, Cape Town.

Monday 9 June, Off-the-Wall at A Touch of Madness

8 pm, at Off-the-Wall series venue A Touch Of Madness bar/restaurant, Observatory, Cape Town.

Thursday 5 June, 'Let There Be Light' - New Works by Candlelight at ArtKaroo, Oudtshoorn

6:30pm, ArtKaroo gallery, Oudtshoorn. A candelit evening of poetry (from A Fold in the Map and new poems), with an exhibition of new works by ceramicist Thijs Nel. See report in Die Hoorn. janet@artkaroo.co.za

Wednesday 30 April 2008, Salt Reading at Borders

Also featuring Mike Barlow, Simon Barraclough, Vincent De Souza and Anthony Joseph.

Wednesday 5 March 2008, St Edmund College Book Week

Reading at St Edmund's College.

Monday 4 February 2008, Salt Reading at the Troubadour

Also featuring Sascha Aurora Akhtar, Vincent de Souza, Tim Dooley, Tobias Hill, Luke Kennard, Chris McCabe, Eleanor Rees and Tamar Yoseloff. See photos and read more about the night.

Friday 25 January 2008, Ask for It by Name pamphlet launched at the Melton Mowbray

A gorgeous new pamphlet with work by myself, Simon Barraclough, Olivia Cole, Luke Heeley, Liane Strauss and Roisin Tierney. Design by Lynne Stuart. Available at readings, select book stores and Amazon, or contact me via the website. £5 a copy.

Readings in 2007:

Thursday 29 November 2007, Salt Autumn Party at Foyles Charing Cross Road

Readings with other Salt poets and short story writers, among them Alexander Hutchison, Carys Davies, John Hartley Williams, David Grubb and Shamshad Khan.

Friday 16 November 2007, African Writer's Evening, with Nii Parkes and Biram Mboob

The African Writers' Evening is held on the third Friday of every other month at The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2. Read more on the African Writers' Evening website.

Saturday 6th October 2007, O Dreamland! Film Poems at the BFI

Coinciding with National Poetry Day, ten poets read poems in response to the BFI Mediatheque's archive 'Essentially British', along with film clips. Poems from myself and writers including Simon Barraclough, Roddy Lumsden, Jane Draycott, Heather Phillipson, Luke Heeley and Olivia Cole.

Delegates Room at the BFI London.

Thursday 27 September, London launch of A Fold in the Map

Launch of my new collection in the Gallery, Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road.

Photos here.

If you missed it, see what others thought here:

Baroque in Hackney

Charles Lambert