In Person Event: Launch of The Dereliction by Liz Berry and Tom Hicks
Presented in partnership with the Black Country Living Museum.
The Dereliction is a love letter to the Black Country. Liz Berry’s poems have been praised for their use of the vernacular, the twang of West Midlands dialect. Her poems are matched with Tom Hicks’s stunning photographs, part of his ongoing documentary photography project Black Country Type, depicting colours and textures of the post-industrial landscape. Together, their vision is a celebration of place which is as vital and lyrical as Wordsworth’s celebration of the Lakes.
Liz and Tom will be reading from the book and speaking about their collaboration. This event is co-sponsored by Hercules Editions, Black Country Living Museum, the Black Country Studies Centre, the University of Wolverhampton and the Birmingham Literature Festival.
About the speaker(s):
Liz Berry‘s first book of poems, Black Country (Chatto, 2014), a ‘sooty, soaring hymn to her native West Midlands’ (The Guardian) received a Somerset Maugham Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award and Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2014. Liz’s pamphlet The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018) was a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice and the title poem won the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem 2018. The Dereliction, a chapbook of her collaboration with Black Country artist Tom Hicks, will be published by Hercules Editions this October. Liz is a patron of Writing West Midlands.
Tom Hicks is the artist behind the documentary photography project Black Country Type. His work explores the post-industrial landscape of the region, focusing on words, typography, handmade lettering and signs. He also photographs ‘types’ of architectural features, objects and the post-industrial landscape of the area. Influenced by psychogeography, his photographs are taken on regular ‘drifts’ through the Black Country, typically by bicycle. His work has been published and exhibited widely, most recently in the photobook I.D.S.T (The Modernist, 2020) and a solo exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery (2020).
About this event:
Event information: This event will take place in person.
Event Duration: This event will last for 60 minutes.
Covid-19 requirements: The space is well ventilated, and will only be sold to half capacity. Attendees will be encouraged to wear a face covering whilst moving around inside the venue.
Book signing: A book stall will be available at the venue, and book signing will take place after the event.
Get involved: The speakers will take questions from the audience at the end of the event.
This event is run by Birmingham Literature Festival, a project of Writing West Midlands. Writing West Midlands is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
