Poetry is not merely words on paper. For many poets it is about the breath – human breath, the breath of Nature, the breath of God – and how the presence of breath in their performance brings their poetry to life.

In this talk Professor David Fuller, Professor (Emeritus) of English Studies (Durham University) and Researcher on the Life of Breath project, will compare Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Walt Whitman’s readings of their own works to T. S. Eliot’s ideas about the music of poetry, and to the performance of poetry by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his contemporaries.

David will also delve into Charles Olson’s ideas on poetic structure (Projective Verse, 1950), and the more elusive ideas about the presence of breath in the structure and performance of poetry by the German poet Paul Celan (The Meridian, 1960).

This relaxed, evening talk will take place in the Courtyard Café and will include free refreshments. Due to limited ticket numbers, please ensure that you book in advance to avoid disappointment: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breath-in-poetry-tickets-55649319613