Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Chichester Literati to celebrate work of influential city poet 27/05/11

The work of a poet described as England's lost laureate will be discussed at a mid-summer event at the University of Chichester.

William Hayley has close ties to the city – he was born in 1745 in a house now part of the Pallant House Gallery, and also married the daughter of the Dean of Chichester in 1769.

Dr Diana Barsham, Head of English and Creative Writing at the University, will offer a reappraisal of the work of this important and influential local poet. Her talk will focus particularly on issues of selfhood in Hayley's poetry and the difference between his style of self-representation and that of his friend, William Blake and the other Romantic writers.

The second half of the evening will be an open discussion between a panel of writers and critics on the topic of 'the self in writing' to which members of the public will also be invited to contribute. The discussion will address autobiographical writing, the self as it appears in contemporary poetry and fiction, and the role of self-loathing in the writing experience.

The panel includes the distinguished novelist and memoirist Soumya Bhattacharya, currently a visitor to the university under the Charles Wallace India Trust scheme; award winning poets Stephanie Norgate and Hugh Dunkerley, and Dr Robert Duggan, a specialist in Contemporary Literature.

The event will be held on Wednesday 1 June from 6pm in the Cloisters Chamber at the Bishop Otter Campus. It is free entry for Chichester Literati members, non-member tickets are £5 (£3 concessions).

For more information on the event and membership to Chichester Literati, contact Fran Armitage on 01243 812171 or email f.armitage@chi.ac.uk.