The Glasshouse

With a recent report stating that dialects will disappear over the next 50 years, join three UK poets who write in the language of their region. Hosted by Chris McCabe, editor of Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry In Endangered languages, who will also read poems in his native Scouse tongue. Katrina Porteous will read her work in Northumbrian dialect and Scots poet Peter McCarey will presents poems from The Syllabary, his ongoing project to write a poem for every syllable in the English language. You will have the chance to ask the poets questions about their work in a discussion focussed around poetry in dialect and what the art form can do to activate engagement with language.

Chris McCabe was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award in 2013 and his five collections of poetry include Speculatrix (2014) and The Triumph of Cancer (2018). His first novel, Dedalus, was shortlisted for the 2019 Republic of Consciousness Prize. He is the editor of Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages (2019) and the Head Librarian at the National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre.

Peter McCarey is the author of Collected Contraptions (Carcanet, 2012) , The Syllabary and spent 15 years running the language service of the World Health Organization. McCarey is a founding member of Poésies en Mouvement (Geneva), panjandrum of Molecular Press and inventor of a pedal-powered confessional. His collective exhibition on transitional toys opens in Glasgow on 13 December 2019. His latest book is De l’oubli (Lausanne, L’ours blanc, 2019).

Based on the Northumberland coast, Katrina Porteous writes poetry in both Northumbrian dialect and standard English. Katrina has published three collections with Bloodaxe, The Lost Music (1996), Two Countries (2014) and Edge (2019). She is President of the Northumbrian Language Society.