Helen Farish Readings
‘Memory is fragile. As we cultivate and reinforce it, we create a myth which interacts with the details of daily life, transforming it into one huge shrine. The candour and courage of The Penny Dropping should not be underestimated. This is confessional poetry of the highest order.’ – John Field, TS Eliot Prize reviewer
Helen Farish is the author of four books of poems, Intimates (Cape, 2005), Nocturnes at Nohant: The Decade of Chopin and Sand (Bloodaxe Books, 2012), The Dog of Memory (Bloodaxe Books, 2016) and The Penny Dropping (Bloodaxe Books, 2024). Intimates, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. The Dog of Memory was shortlisted for the Lakeland Book of the Year 2017.
Her fourth collection The Penny Dropping is a book-length verse sequence that charts the course of a cherished relationship from first meeting to eventual break-up and beyond. It is on the shortlist for the TS Eliot Prize 2024. Scroll down to watch videos of Helen Farish reading from and talking about her shortlisted collection.
Helen Farish was the subject of the TS Eliot Prize e-newsletter of 31 October 2024. With links to an excellent review by John Field, to Readers’ Notes and to videos of Helen reading from and talking about her shortlisted collection The Penny Dropping. Read the newsletter here.
'This themed book reflects upon a past love affair, taking us from inception to end, and what comes next. There is regret, rueful anger, a sense of loss and longing, together with a genuine feeling of tender gratitude for having experienced so intense a relationship in all its moods. What is fascinating is that these poems show such energy and luminosity from emotions first felt over 30 years ago. [...] A remarkable collection from an excellent poet.' – David Harmer, Orbis, on The Penny Dropping
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Sunday 12 January 2025, 7pm, TS Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings, London
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
All the poets shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2024 are invited to read from their shortlisted collections at London's Royal Festival Hall on 12 January 2025. The event is hosted by poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan. Bloodaxe poets Katrina Porteous and Helen Farish have been shortlisted for their fourth collections Rhizodont and The Penny Dropping.
Both in-person and livestream tickets are available. The event will be BSL interpreted.
In-person tickets £12: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ts-eliot-prize-shortlist-readings/
Livestream tickets £7: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ts-eliot-prize-readings-live-stream/
T S ELIOT PRIZE VIDEOS
Helen Farish reads 'Snow on the Road to Naoussa' from The Penny Dropping
Helen Farish talks about her work
PAST EVENTS
ONLINE LAUNCH READING, 30 APRIL 2024
Helen launched The Penny Dropping online at Bloodaxe’s joint live-streamed reading and discussion event on 30 April 2024, together with Ellen Cranitch and Okinawan-Irish American poet Brenda Shaughnessy. Available to watch now via YouTube below or here.
[02 October 2024]
