​Shakespeare and Company, Paris 07 Jul 2016

Tonight I had an incredible evening, I performed poems from my second collection, The Lock And The Key.

The evening was opened with music from the accomplished cellist Dom La Nena, who shared her unique, fascinating sounds. Then we heard poems from Nathan Loceff's first collection "Joys of The Capital". A young poet from San Francisco, it was a pleasure to hear him read his work which was full of character and wit, and almost entirely about his Parisian experience. After some more music, I got up to perform, we were in the downstairs of the shop, and it was full. It was with so much pride and pleasure and gratitude that I was able to perform 15 poems, some for the very first time.

The audience were so lovely and supportive and it was great to talk and meet with people afterwards and sign books for them. After we had dinner with Sylvia Whitman, David Delannet and the whole Shakespeare and Company family and my fellow performers. It was also lovely to be reunited with the poet Heather Hartley who I read with last time at Shakespeare and Company.

Walking back through the city it reflected my mood, mainly because France had just beat Germany in the Euro Cup semi finals. The sound of horns and cheering and music, in the streets that had faced such hardship in recent months, made my heart swell all the more.