Poetry reading with Benjamin Aleshire at The Troubadour, Old Brompton Road 24 Jul 2018

I first met Benjamin Aleshire in Paris at Shakespeare and Company in 2016. I was there to give a reading to launch my second collection The Lock And The Key. I'd noticed him sitting outside Shakespeare and Co with a typewriter and a handmade sign that read: "Poet For Hire". Sylvia Whitman urged me to commission him, saying she's given him the topic of motherhood and he's given her the most profound poem in which he had expressed how she felt about motherhood. So i approached Ben and gave him a few sentences about the night of my first ever poetry reading on the 12th November 2013. The result is the poem "Worlds End" which is very dear to my heart. In addition to touring the world as a troubadour, Ben was recently featured in The Times and his broadsides and books are archived in the Special Collections of Yale University, the University of Vermont, and St. Lawrence University. He was awarded a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, as well as the Chighizola Poetry Prize from the University of New Orleans.

So, when Ben contacted me and said he'd like to do a reading with me whilst he was in London I happily agreed. I was curious to hear how his words that worked so beautifully on the page would sound when he recited them. He gave a great reading and has a strong presence. He also shared a segment from his memoir. It was a pleasure to be in front of an audience at The Troubadour again, and share my new poems from my new collection Zoreh. It was truly a wonderful reading and I look forward to the next time I am reunited with Ben, whichever country it may be in.