ONE of the most popular of contemporary Lake District poets is to be the guest speaker at the Bowness Book Club in May.

Kerry Darbishire will be at the event on May 17 at the Burn How Hotel to talk about her work, and about poetry in general.

She was recently appointed to be poet in residence at Rydal Mount, the home of William Wordsworth, this summer.

For three weeks in August she will be at Rydal Mount discussing Wordsworth with visitors and  looking for inspiration for her own work.

Kerry lives locally with her husband in the Lake District  where most of her poetry is rooted. Her two full collections were  published by Indigo Dreams: A Lift of Wings( 2014) and Distance Sweet on my Tongue (2018). Her biography Kay’s Ark was published by Handstand Press in 2016. Her poems have appeared widely in anthologies and magazines. 

She has won and been placed in many competitions including  short-listed in the Bridport Prize 2017. Her work was performed by The Cumbria Opera Group’s Lakeland Cycle in September 2021. She co-edited This Place I know, the  Handstand Press 2018 anthology of Cumbrian poets. In 2022 was she was joint winner of the Hedgehog Press Full Fat Collection prize with her  latest collection Jardiniѐre.

In her new poetry pamphlet, A Window of Passing Light, Kerry presents two groups of poems:  in ‘Studio air’ she focuses mainly on imagery from the paintings she loves in galleries and in ‘Plein air’ she writes from her love of the landscape in the hills of her home in Cumbria. The beautiful painting on the front cover of the book is by her husband, Steve Darbishire RBA, an accomplished professional artist.

Michael Robinson, proprietor of the Burn How Hotel, said: “We love Kerry’s poetry. And we are also very pleased to have some of Stephen’s paintings here at the hotel. We think it will be a memorable evening.”

The book club is at 7pm on Weds May 17. All welcome, no need to have read any particular book. Free entry.