Whatever Happened to Johnny Keats? is the theme of a “picnic” event at Keats House in Hampstead, north London on Sunday 3 July. Poets Julia Bird and Mike Sims will be looking at why Keats was so excoriated in his lifetime (because of politics, class, excessive sensuousness), and Keats’s own ambivalent view of fame. At his request, his gravestone in Rome bears the legend: “Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water”. What happened after that? How did his fame grow, and who was responsible, and why?   

There will be readings from Keats’s letters and poems, and tea and cake is included in the ticket price. Mike said: “The gardens at Keats House are very beautiful and the forecast is for dry weather – but we’ll move the event inside the adjacent library if it should be damp.” More details