Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be joined by a host of left wingers on Sunday (Nov 12) to read inspirational verse that has moved and enlightened him.
The Islington North MP and co-author Len McCluskey will read extracts from their new selection Poetry for The Many at Park Theatre, alongside comics Alexei Sayle and Francesca Martinez, and film makers Ken Loach and Morag Livingstone.
Corbyn and McCluskey - former General Secretary of UNITE Union - share a love of poetry and a passionate belief in a fairer Britain, summed up in Labour's 2017 election slogan “For the many, not the few.”
The line is from Shelley’s poem The Masque of Anarchy, which makes it into the anthology, alongside verse that has moved and enlightened them by Shakespeare, Juana Inés de la Cruz, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Bertolt Brecht, Stevie Smith, and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Rob Delaney, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Morag Livingstone, Ken Loach, Francesca Martinez, Karie Murphy, Maxine Peake, Michael Rosen, Alexei Sayle, and Gary Younge have also picked poems that speak to them, and celebrate the power of verse.
Sunday's launch is chaired by journalist Melissa Benn, and includes readings by students from a local drama college as well as the chance to buy signed books.
Poetry For The Many is published Or Books, £16,99 on November 14 and All royalties will be donated to the Peace and Justice Project.
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