“Open the Windows” Poetry & Medicine Reading

Susie Stubbs

A moving joint reading that tells the story of a sick newborn baby, from both the mother and the doctor’s perspectives.

In 2007, Rebecca Goss’s newborn daughter, Ella was diagnosed at the hospital where Denise Bundred worked. However, they only met later as poets, writing about their respective experiences as mother/patient and doctor. Join us for their first joint reading, which also features specially-commissioned music by Chris Davies, and is hosted by the National Aspergillosis Centre, UHSM, and Manchester Literature Festival. Rebecca Goss’s second collection, Her Birth, begins with Ella’s birth, her short life and her death, and ends with the joys and complexities that accompany the birth of another child. Her poetry was highly commended in the Hippocrates Prize in 2012 and 2013. Part of Manchester Literature Festival. Manchester Museum, Kanaris Lecture Theatre, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, 2pm-3.30pm, Saturday 12 October, free but booking advised.

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