The evening will begin with a performance of ‘i-poems’ – drawn from the voices of survivors of domestic abuse and family members of victims of domestic homicide. These poems are powerful testimonies drawn from the HALT (Homicide Abuse Learning Together) study, spearheaded by Professor Khatidja Chantler and a multi-disciplinary team from across Manchester Metropolitan University and beyond. The i-poems illustrate how the lyric poem can elevate and magnify the voices of those most impacted by domestic violence.

We will then continue with a reading from The Illustrated Woman by Dr Helen Mort – a journey into the territory of the female body – hungry, adolescent, aging, pregnant, in nature and in illness. The history of tattoos and what we both reveal and conceal is also explored in these tender, incisive and vital poems.

Finally, Dr Kim Moore will launch her hybrid lyric essay collection Are You Judging Me Yet? Poetry and Everyday Sexism (Seren, 2022). This book of essays draws on her experience of writing and performing the poems in her Forward Prize-winning collection All the Men I Never Married to examine the dynamics of being a female poet performing in a public space. She will explore the connections between sexism and domestic violence, the concepts of complicity, guilt and objectification and how poetry can be part of transformational change.

Hosted by Dr Helen Mort.

Content warning: This event will contain discussions of domestic violence and homicide and discuss experiences of sexism, micro-aggression and gender-based violence.