The Coronet Theatre Bar in London was the perfectly delightful setting for the March edition of Poetry Club, with its eclectic treasure trove of antiques, a bar that was originally a piano, beautiful furnishings that reminded me of The Arabian Nights, and atmospheric candles all around us. Add to that the talents of established poets Sarah Howe, Michael Symmons Roberts, and Susannah V Evans, and you have the perfect literary evening.
Hosted by the sophisticated Marian, she set the scene for what was to come in a way that was informative, engaging and supportive of all the poets involved. Her knowledge of how poetry is used was so compact that we felt her deep connection to how words and the play of language through the love she showed as the evening progressed. It was particularly demonstrated when she mentioned at the start that, due to all that is currently happening in the world, we need poetry more than ever. She is right! Poetry engages the soul and the heart, whether we realise it or not. It encourages us to engage in more creative ways than a novel sometimes.
Having a night like this to celebrate current artists also encourages us to find common ground through the different styles used. What was interesting is that this month’s poets had an underlying theme of mothers, care and loss. This felt very appropriate with Mother’s Day not long past, especially as we felt the ways grief was felt differently, yet the feeling of loss stayed the same. They demonstrated that no matter what the situation is, there is always a universal bond through words.
Susannah V Evans kicked off the proceedings with her experimental ways of playing with postcard-style vignettes and prose poetry as she explored the theme of care and mental health through short, sharp insights into the mind as we see conversations carried out, thoughts interrupted and rhythms being played with to show a flow of thought. With this being a debut for her, whilst the nerves were slight, she shortly settled into sharing the magic she clearly showed with how she played with these different styles, challenging the standard way to write. The power of silence was particularly felt with one poem that was dedicated to removing words and letters to challenge the audience to make up their own minds about what was happening in this circumstance. A risky move for some, but one that showcased the most powerful tool, which she executed extremely well.
Sarah Howe was next up. I will say she is one of my favourite current poets, due to her relatable comedy moments, ancestral explorations, history connections and family ties that run deeper than what we perceive a family to be. Drawing on her own mum’s journey of being adopted at the height of the Chinese Communist movement, she revealed her own vulnerability at being on the brink of history, the discovery of belonging, and more through her honesty and warmth felt for her mother’s journey. What made her really stand out was the way she described complicated relationships in a way that was not fuelled by hate, but compassion. At one point, she also drew inspiration from Hamlet’s famous ‘Words! Words! Words!’ speech, as she explored how words change perceptions on family and how deep emotions lie under the surface. This was a perfect mixture of humour and reflection to add to the proceedings.
Finally, Michael Symmons Roberts closed the evening by drawing on nature, spirit and looking at grief in a more pragmatic way to cope. His style was more dramatic in terms of reading, but the sense of wonder was felt as we discovered his joy at the wonder of how nature and birds influence the world. The way he played with various tones in his own distinctive style was a pleasure to listen to and really made us think about how the little things enhance our life experiences. I mentioned earlier about him looking at grief pragmatically. Here’s why. He referred to a famous end scene in Uncle Vanya by Chekov, in which the family at the time of a parental passing, were doing the accounts. Weird, yes, but as he aptly put it, when you know the time comes, you find yourself trying to focus your mind on something else to neutralise the intensity of emotions. In his case, on the evening his own mother passed, he found himself on the drive to the house counting and adding the numbers on the doors as he drove past. Then, when at the house, he found himself counting all the items in his mother’s bedroom. It was these things that inspired him to look at that closing Chekov scene and write his own take on what transpired. This was heartfelt, extremely moving, and highlighted his spiritual insight into life and death itself. A perfect way to close.
Poetry Club is the perfect event for those who love poetry and wish to discover more, those new to poetry, as well as all lovers of magical uses of language. New poets are showcased every quarter and as an event, this is an enchanting evening not to be missed.
Review by Sascha Cooper
Poetry Club welcomes Sarah Howe, Michael Symmons Roberts and Suzannah V. Evans to The Coronet Theatre for an evening of powerful new poetry. Across intimate family histories, acts of care and encounters with the natural world, their work explores belonging, memory and our fragile connections to one another and the living world. Each poet reads from a major recent collection: Howe from Foretokens, Symmons Roberts from Dog Star, and Evans from Under the Blue.
Unearthed objects, inherited stories and shifting geographies shape Sarah Howe’s Foretokens, a luminous and searching meditation on migration and belonging. Moving across continents, languages and generations, Howe gathers family traces into poems that act as omens, “foretokens”, of both historical reckoning and future possibility.
Rooted in encounters with birds, trees, fish and other living forms, Michael Symmons Roberts’ Dog Star unfolds as a poignant, linked sequence attentive to moments of grace. The poems explore our increasingly turbulent relationship with nature and ask what it means to remain spiritually and physically connected to the more-than-human world.
In Under the Blue, Suzannah V. Evans offers a glittering, fragmentary sequence of prose poems and lyrical meditations on intimacy, illness and the work of care. Moving between beauty and pain with striking clarity, the collection maps the rituals of tenderness and the fragile language of love, creating a deeply humane portrait of what it means to look after one another.
Sarah Howe
Sarah Howe is a British poet, academic and editor born in Hong Kong to an English father and Chinese mother. Her debut collection Loop of Jade won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. She co-founded the online journal Prac Crit and is Poetry Editor at Chatto & Windus and an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool.
Michael Symmons Roberts
Michael Symmons Roberts has published eight poetry collections and is the winner of the Forward Prize, Costa Poetry Award and Whitbread Poetry Prize. A celebrated librettist and broadcaster, he is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Suzannah V. Evans
Suzannah V. Evans is a poet, researcher and educator. Her debut collection Under the Blue is longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, and her work has received the Ivan Juritz Prize and a Northern Writers’ Award. She teaches poetry in adult education and works with Poetry By Heart.
POETRY CLUB
The Coronet Theatre
19 March 2026
