Camille Ralphs, Michael Symmons Roberts and Malika Booker at Manchester Cathedral

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Visit now

From Caribbean Ritual to an Elizabethan Magus: Placing Christianity in Contemporary Poetry

Manchester Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter
21 March 2024

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Join us for this two-part event between Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester Cathedral on Christianity and poetry.
Manchester Cathedral
Book now

Join Manchester Cathedral writer-in-residence Tom Branfoot for this two-part event featuring poets Camille Ralphs, Michael Symmons Roberts and Malika Booker discussing the place of Christianity in contemporary poetry, and reading from their work.

‘From Caribbean Ritual to an Elizabethan Magus: Placing Christianity in Contemporary Poetry’ is a joint event between Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester Cathedral. A discussion at midday at Man Met’s All Saints Library will be followed by an evening poetry reading at Manchester Cathedral, with an informal launch of Camille Ralphs’ debut poetry collection with Faber & Faber, After You Were, I Am.

Camille Ralphs is a poet, critic and poetry editor at the Times Literary Supplement. Her poems and translations have appeared or are forthcoming in magazines including the New York Review of Booksthe Poetry ReviewThe Spectator and the London Magazine, and she writes critically for publications including the Telegraph, the Poetry Review and the Los Angeles Review of Books, produces a regular column for Poetry London and conducts an interview series for Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal. She has released three pamphlets: Malkin (The Emma Press, 2015), which was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award; uplifts & chains (If A Leaf Falls/Glyph Press, 2020), and Daydream College for Bards (Guillemot Press, 2023).

Here’s what Faber says about her new collection: “In After You Were, I Am, charged moments from history collide with our own godless modern world. The book’s three sections – ingenious rewritings of canonical prayers, dramatic monologues from the Pendle witch trials of 1612, and the divine tragedy of the Elizabethan magus John Dee – obsess over individual human characters and how our past informs (and informs on) our present. Ralphs’s is a startling, era-spanning utterance that draws upon a vast range of influences, from sacred texts and early modern drama to metaphysical wit, twentieth-century confessionalism and contemporary irony and mistrust. This ambitious and thrilling debut embodies the variety and singularity of living voices past and present.”

Both events are free entry, with no need to book. Wine and refreshments will be available at the reading, and books will be available to buy.

What's on at Manchester Cathedral

Where to go near Camille Ralphs, Michael Symmons Roberts and Malika Booker at Manchester Cathedral

Cathedral Gardens
Cathedral Quarter
Park
Cathedral Gardens

Cathedral Gardens is a partially lawned public space in Manchester city centre, located between Manchester Cathedral and the National Football Museum.

Manchester
Event venue
Festa Italiana

The 2022 Festa Italiana was a roaring success, with great food options and captivating live music performances throughout the weekend.

Manchester
Restaurant
The Cosy Club

Elegant and welcoming restaurant and bar in the Corn Exchange, with an attractive domed ceiling and plenty of original features like the staircase and tiles.

Manchester
Music venue
The Stoller Hall

The baby in the family of Manchester’s concert halls, The Stoller Hall greatly enhances the city’s already enviable live music provision.

Proper Tea Cathedral Quarter Mancheste
Cathedral Quarter
Café or Coffee Shop
Proper Tea

Proper Tea sits opposite Manchester Cathedral, serving up artisanal teas (with instructions on how long to leave them brewing), sandwiches, soups and excellent cake.

Manchester
Restaurant
Kitchen In An Arch

An offshoot from the much-loved Umezushi, this specialist deli is a one-stop-shop for all your sushi making needs, and also hosts occasional workshops to improve your culinary skills.

The National Football Museum Manchester
Manchester
Museum
National Football Museum

The National Football Museum is now open to the public, ready to show off its impressive array of football-related exhibits and activities.

What's on: Literature

Deryn Rees-Jones. Credit Alison Dodd Photography
LiteratureLiverpool
Deryn Rees-Jones at Open Eye Gallery

For the seventh Matt Simpson Memorial Reading, hosted by Liverpool Poetry Space (LiPS), Deryn Rees-Jones will be reading from her new collection, Hôtel Amour.

Free entry

Culture Guides

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries in the North are far from spooky this October - instead you'll find tactile sculptures, plant magic and curatorial experiments.

Hofesh Shechter - Theatre of Dreams at Lowry
Theatre in the North

Picks this month include bold visual art, wondrous opera and cinematic dance - plus a touch of ghostly storytelling for the Halloween season.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

It's busy month across the cinemas of the north as Halloween programming leads into two of the region's biggest film festivals.

Poet Helen Mort.
Literature Events in the North

One to add to your TBR pile, our latest round-up is a bumper edition and features some amazing events in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and beyond...

Music in the North

From New York’s experimental underground to the most exciting sounds coming from local scenes, we're lining up a noisy autumn of gigs.