I have been tweeting and publicising this event for so long that I was so excited that this actually came around. The launch of the Newcastle Poetry Event 2019 including a reading and reception with American poet Terrance Hayes.
I met Theresa, John and Melanie in the King George VI builiding on campus for a gin reception and to take some photos of the event to upload later on during the reading. I got talking to a lot of people at the event and shared my placement experiences with them, many of which worked with or new the NCLA well and so it was nice to hear their thoughts on the company.
We moved the reception into Northern Stage, the venue for much of the festival, and we sat down for Terrance's reading from American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin. Iv'e never really been one for poetry but his was very moving. You could tell he had a lot of anger and regret towards the state of the USA as it stands and it really touched him on a personal level.
He was a very funny man and got the whole audience laughing along with him in between the reading of the poems. He had a great persoanlity and energy about him that lifted the spirits of the room. He read for an hour or so before moving the event into the foyer to talk to the audience and sign copies of his book. I said thank you to him on my way out for the great reading and went on my way.