Poetry Book Society Autumn Showcase with Romalyn Ante and Roy McFarlane.

Introduced by PBS Manager Alice Mullen and in conversation with Tara Bergin

Encompassing mythology, care and crisis, Ante’s second collection asks: how do we keep safe what we hold most dear? AGIMAT follows the poet at the dawn of the pandemic– a practising nurse in the NHS – thrown onto the frontlines of the war against COVID-19. These are powerful poems of strength, solace and healing. McFarlane will be reading from his third collection Living By Troubled Waters an extraordinary, uncompromising book exploring slavery, colonialism, and the continued tragedies visited upon Black bodies whilst these legacies remain unresolved. 

Romalyn Ante FRSL is a Filipino-British poet, essayist, and editor. She was 16 years old when her mother brought the family to the UK. Her debut collection, Antiemetic for Homesickness, was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. She is the co-founding editor of harana poetry, was awarded the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship in 2021-2022 and sits on the editorial board for Poetry London magazine. She lives in the West Midlands where she works as a registered NHS nurse and psychotherapist.

Roy McFarlane is a poet, playwright and former youth and community worker born in Birmingham of Jamaican parentage. He has held the roles of National Canal Laureate and Starbucks Poet in Residence and is the co-editor of Celebrate Wha? Ten Black British Poets from the Midlands. His debut collection, Beginning With Your Last Breath, was followed by The Healing Next Time, which was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes award and longlisted for the Jhalak Prize. McFarlane is an alumnus of Newcastle University’s MA in Writing Poetry. 

Tara Bergin is Senior Lecturer in Writing Poetry (Creative Writing) at Newcastle University.

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