I was delighted and honoured to be asked to read with Gaynor Kane as part of her launch of her 3rd collection of poetry, Eight Types of Love, from Hedgehog Press.

I was particularly pleased that Gaynor invited me to read at her launch, because I feel as if I was midwife to these poems, in the sense that Gaynor asked me to mentor her (funded by ACNI) as she was completing the collection. It was a brilliant for me to see the earlier versions of the manuscript and to be part of the journey of these poems to their final forms.

The launch took place in Bangor’s Carnegie Library on a sunny afternoon last Saturday, 13th August. Also reading were Karen Mooney and Damian Donnelly. It was a gorgeous event, full of laughter and pleasure – and lots of cake! – as well as remarkable poetry.

This is such a rich collection. It’s based on the Ancient Greek taxonomy of different types of love. From Ludos to Agape, through Eros to Pragma and more, Gaynor has created a cornucopia of delights.