Poetry Rising – An Evening Where Words Come Alive

Join us for the first in a new series of events at KRL –  Poetry Rising

Kensal Rise poet Chrys Salt MBE will present Erica Hesketh — poet, editor and artistic director of the Winchester Poetry Festival.

Erica’s poetry readings will be followed by Open Mic Floor spots…the Fickle Tupperware Bowl of Fate awaits! Bring a poem, a song a monologue – anything that fits into 4 minutes.

You can book your tickets here or just turn up on the day: Poetry Rising – an evening where words come alive through poetry Tickets, Wednesday, September 16  •  7:30 PM – 9 PM | Eventbrite 

The event is free – donations will be gratefully accepted on the night.

Refreshments will be available.

Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall and the London Philharmonic Orchestra among others. She was longlisted in the 2023 National Poetry Competition, and highly commended in the 2025 Forward Prizes. She has twenty years’ experience editing fiction, non-fiction and poetry, working for publishers as well as directly with authors. She is the Artistic Director of Winchester Poetry Festival, and has previously programmed events for Southbank Centre, Port Eliot Festival and others. From 2016 to 2024 she was Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. She is a member of the Southbank Centre New Poets Collective 2023–24.

Chrys Salt has performed her poetry across the UK and internationally. She has published four full collections and five pamphlets, had her poems published in magazines and anthologies and broadcast on Radio 3 and 4. She also writes theatre and radio plays, features and documentaries and has written seven books for actors (Methuen Drama). She runs performance and skills development workshops for writers and performers, and is Artistic Director of The Bakehouse, an arts venue in SW Scotland, and Literature Convener for BIG LIT: The Stewartry Book Festival in South West Scotland. Chrys was awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2014 for Services to Arts.