The University of Liverpool is pleased to announce that George Szirtes will give the 2008 Kenneth Allott Lecture in Poetry on Thursday 6 November at 5.30pm in the Jack Leggate Theatre. The lecture is open to all and free to attend.

The Jack Leggate Theatre is located in the newly opened Victoria Gallery and Museum, in the Grade II listed Victoria building on Brownlow Hill, the University’s original site.

George Szirtes was born in Budapest and came to England as a refugee in 1956. He was brought up in London and studied Fine Art in London and Leeds. His poems began appearing in national magazines in 1973 and his first book, The Slant Door, was published in 1979. It won the Faber Memorial Prize the following year. He won the 2004 TS Elliot Prize for his collection Reel.

Kenneth Allott was both a poet and academic. The lectureship was founded in his memory by his widow, Miriam, who succeeded him to the Andrew Bradley Chair of Modern English at the University of Liverpool.

The first Kenneth Allott lecture was given by Seamus Heaney in 1978.

If you have any questions regarding the lecture please feel free to contact Sarah O'Keefe Sarah.Okeeffe@liverpool.ac.uk