Liverpool Poetry Space: Matt Simpson Annual Reading (2026) with Ian Seed at The Bluecoat

Join us as we welcome the widely published poet Ian Seed to Liverpool to share his work and celebrate the legacy of Matt Simpson.

Ian Seed’s recent publications include Forgetfulness (Shearsman, 2026), My Outsize Hank Williams Cowboy Hat, with artwork by Lupo Sol (Sacred Parasite, 2025), Night Window (Shearsman, 2024), The Dice Cup, from the French of Max Jacob (Wakefield, 2023), The River Which Sleep Has Told Me, from the Italian of Ivano Fermini (Fortnightly Review Odd Volumes, 2022), and New York Hotel (Shearsman, 2018), a TLS Book of the Year. He was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Liverpool 2023-25.

The Matt Simpson Memorial reading series was adopted by Liverpool Poetry Space in 2025 with the seventh reading in the series by Deryn Rees-Jones. Previous readings held at Liverpool Hope University were with George Szirtes (2018), Liz Berry (2019), Helen Mort (2021 - online), Kayo Chingonyi (2022), Seán Hewitt (2023), Janette Ayachi (2024).

Matt Simpson (1936-2009) was a poet and literary critic, born in Bootle, Merseyside, to a family with a long sea-faring tradition. His poetry is both literary and accessible. He was a Senior Lecturer in English at Liverpool Hope University for 30 years. He published six full collections including An Elegy for the Galosherman (Bloodaxe) and numerous books of literary criticism. His poetry was included in over 100 anthologies of poetry for children, with his Collected Poems published by Shoestring Press.

£2-5, booking required

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