Kate Noakes: *Sublime Lungs* & Lucy English: *Dream Time*

Join us at EBB for a special late autumn evening celebrating new books by poets Kate Noakes (*Sublime Lungs*, Two Rivers Press) and Lucy English (*Dream Time*, Burning Eye Books). Readings by the authors and conversation with the audience.

ON *SUBLIME LUNGS*

In *Sublime Lungs* Kate Noakes turns her attention to the breath. For the first time, she explores her lifelong asthma and explains the impact of this chronic and disabling condition. The breath and breathing are subjects for poems from many chronologies and geographies in this her ninth collection.

From Egyptian breath cures to Katherine Mansfield’s inhaler to the thin air of the Rocky Mountains and Machu Picchu, Kate Noakes’ latest collection evokes all the elements of a life lived with asthma. With each successive poem, *Sublime Lungs* expands the scope of how this condition affects one’s experience of the world in poems by turns witty and moving. This is poetry that attunes us to the nuances of our own embodiment. — Carrie Etter

If one measure of a poet’s line is their breath, then you’d expect a poet with asthma to be a little curtailed by it. Not so Kate Noakes. *Sublime Lungs* finds poem after poem burgeoning out of the condition and leading her to find no trace of Keats in Rome, but allegories in witchcraft, Kent Marsh Frogs or Blade Runner, and to have a double-edged view of nature, which for her can be kill or cure. Whether in Machu Picchu or Boston Library, referencing Charles Olson in Gloucester, or relating to lovers and children, Noakes starts from the breath in her lungs and takes off into air. — Matthew Caley

ON *DREAM TIME*

We are living through fractured and anxious times. *Dream Time* is a poetry collection that explores the delicate intersection between the conscious and unconscious realms. How do we navigate this uncertain world? Drawing inspiration from dreams, and storytelling, *Dream Time* delves into themes of memory, identity, and transformation and takes us through the unreal land of the lockdown experience, how this still resonates today, and the confusions caused new technology. *Dream Time* is an invitation to journey beyond the waking world into a place where time is fluid, and reality bends.

Through vivid imagery and introspective verses, *Dream Time* reflects on the inner landscapes that define human experience—moments of clarity, disillusionment, wonder, and awakening. It captures the ethereal quality of dreams while grounding them in our everyday awkward experiences, creating a space for us to reflect on our own subconscious voyages. With a sense of mysticism, reverence and some offbeat humour, the collection invites us to embrace the unknown, to trust in the power of the imagination, and to explore the boundaries between dream and reality.

On the cusp. In the cracks. These are the edgy places of *Dream Time*, where Lucy English's rich imagery finds form. Her travels, childhood and her Bristol home are closely observed. Care for our world, enlivened by her marvellous wit, makes for a wild ride. Strap in! — Kate Noakes

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Kate Noakes lives in Bristol, and has a PhD in contemporary British and American poetry from the University of Reading. Her new book arising from this work is *Sublime Lungs*, published by Two Rivers Press in 2026. *Bog Queens*, a pamphlet from Green Bottle Press has also been published this summer. She was elected to the Welsh Academy in 2011. Her website, www.boomslangpoetry.blogspot.com, is archived by the National Library of Wales. Kate’s first non-fiction title is *Real Hay-on-Wye*, published in 2022 by Seren.

Lucy English is a British poet, writer, academic and poetry-film practitioner based in Bristol. She is known particularly for work that combines poetry, film, performance and digital/immersive forms. She has three collections of poetry published by Burning Eye Books: *Prayer to Imperfection - Poems 1996-2014* (2014), *The Book of Hours* (2018) and now *Dream Time*.