Primers is an exciting collaboration between Nine Arches Press and The Poetry School. The afternoon will include readings from poets Ben Bransfield, Cynthia Miller, and Marvin Thompson, all featured in Primers: Volume Two [Edited by Jacob Sam-La Rose and Jane Commane] which will be available for sale at the event. 

In 2016, The Poetry School and Nine Arches Press launched their nationwide Primers scheme for a second time, in search of exciting new voices in poetry, with Jacob Sam-La Rose and Jane Commane as selecting editors. After reading through hundreds of anonymous entries, and narrowing down the choices from longlist to shortlist, three poets emerged as clear choices: Ben Bransfield, Cynthia Miller and Marvin Thompson.

Primers: Volume Two collects together a snapshot of poems from each of the three new poets. We take a voyage through captivating narratives with a cast of memorable characters, find themes intimately entangled with place, identity and family, and discover poems that are alive to the pertinent issues of our present day experiences. Here are bold voices, splashes of bright colours and rich sensations that are impossible to leave behind. We hope you enjoy the trip.

Ben Bransfield is from Shropshire. His poems have appeared in The North, Obsessed with Pipework, ASH, and have been placed in Peterloo and Wenlock competitions. He was named a Poetry Society Teacher Trailblazer in 2015, and he lives and teaches in London.

Cynthia Miller is a brand strategist and Co-Director of Verve, Birmingham’s inaugural Poetry and Spoken Word Festival 2017. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2013 and has a poem forthcoming in The Emma Press Anthology of Love.

Marvin Thompson was born in London to Jamaican parents, and now lives in mountainous South Wales. As well as having an MA in Creative Writing, his poems have appeared in numerous journals. These include Stand Magazine and The Poetry Review.

You can book in advance for this event here or please contact us for further information by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone: 01225 767993. 

We look forward to seeing you!