Carcanet online book launch: Rookie by Caroline Bird

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

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Rookie: Selected Poems by Caroline Bird

13 July 2022

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Poet Caroline Bird
Poet Caroline Bird
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We’re excited for the launch of Rookie: Selected Poems by Forward Prize-winning poet Caroline Bird, when she will be reading from the new collection, out with Manchester-based Carcanet Press, and chatting about it with fellow poet Rachel Long, author of Forward Prize-shortlisted My Darling From The Lions.

Caroline Bird’s most recent collection, The Air Year, was awarded the prestigious Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2020. It was also shortlisted for the Polari Book Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize, and it was a “book of the…” in the Telegraph, Guardian and The White Review.

Starting with Looking Through Letterboxes in 2002 when she was just 15 years old (followed up with Trouble Came to the Turnip, 2006, then Watering Can, 2009), Caroline Bird has published six books with Carcanet, and is one of the publishing house’s most popular poets. Her fourth collection, The Hat-Stand Union, was described by Simon Armitage as “spring-loaded, funny, sad and deadly”.

Caroline Bird’s most recent collection, The Air Year, was awarded the prestigious Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2020. It was also shortlisted for the Polari Book Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize, and it was a “book of the…” in the Telegraph, Guardian and The White Review. She was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2017 and the Ted Hughes Award 2017 for her fifth collection, In These Days Of Prohibition (published July 2017), and she has previously been shortlisted the Dylan Thomas Prize – twice, in 2008 and 2010.

Rookie: Selected Poems came out earlier this year and presents a formidable body of work composed over two decades from one of the poetry world’s most energetic and consistently compelling voices. Carcanet say: “Her startling instinct for metaphor, the courage of her choice of subjects and the integrity of her witness, set her apart: a poem is a risk, and it has to be a risk worth taking for the poet and for the reader.”

Caroline Bird’s poems have been published in several anthologies and journals including Poetry Magazine, PN ReviewPoetry Review and The North magazine. Several of her poems and a commissioned short story, ‘Sucking Eggs’, have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. She was one of the five official poets at London Olympics 2012. Her poem ‘The Fun Palace’, which celebrates the life and work of theatre director Joan Littlewood (Caroline hails from a theatrical background and also writes plays), is now erected on the Olympic Site outside the main stadium.

As always with Carcanet Press events, extracts of the text will be shown during the reading so that you can read along, and audience members will have the opportunity to ask their own questions. Registration for this online event is £2, redeemable against the cost of the book – attendees will receive a discount code and details of how to get hold of the new book during and after the event.

Rookie: Selected Poems by Caroline Bird
Rookie: Selected Poems by Caroline Bird

Where to go near Carcanet online book launch: Rookie by Caroline Bird

Manchester
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Kargo MKT

Mighty food hall in Salford Quays, with around twenty street food vendors, serving a huge range of cuisines.

Asap Coffee Interior/ Counter
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
ASAP Coffee

If you’re looking for quality coffee and a decadent brunch in a setting that nails the Northern Quarter brief, you’d struggle to do better than ASAP Coffee.

Interior of George St Chapel
Manchester
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George Street Chapel

This beautifully restored former Independent Methodist Chapel in the heart of Oldham is as much a creative hub as a heritage landmark.

Chinatown
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Pho Cue

Family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. Prepare to queue for Pho Cue.

Come to Swithens Farm for a great family day out in Leeds. Our farm has plenty to offer whatever age you are!Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around. We now have a farm shop, café, playbarn and petting farm. When we first opened we only had the usual farm animals – cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and it was free entry. We now have llamas, alpacas, meerkats, rabbits, guinea pigs, donkeys and a pony.On the working farm, we breed our own cows, pigs and sheep and we sell the meat through the farm shop and the café. If you buy a sausage sandwich from the café the sausage will be from the butcher who has made the sausage by hand using our own pork. We also produce our own free-range eggs.
Leeds
Swithens Farm

Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around.

Peak District
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The Chequers Inn

The Chequers Inn is a 16th century, family-run, traditional country inn with an impressive dining space. The Peak District at its best.

Testbed Main Space
Leeds
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TESTBED

TESTBED is a newly renovated 10,000 sq foot event venue in Leeds that offers endless possibilities for creating unique and inspiring experiences.

Manchester
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Salt & Pepper

Chinese inspired British food in the centre of Manchester, backed up by plenty of well-deserved local hype.

Morning Glory - Coffee Cup
Manchester
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Morning Glory

Morning Glory positions itself as a grab-and-go spot, with just 12 seats inside serving coffee, bagels and sweet treats.

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