Poems on Motherhood: Maria Ferguson+Deanna Rodger at Watershed
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A event held at Watershed on Saturday 3rd May. The event starts at 14:00.


All Lyra Fest venues are wheelchair accessible. Our full 2025 Access Information Pack is available at www.lyrafest.com.

Date: Saturday 3rd May 2025
Venue: Watershed (W3)
Time: 14:00 - 15:00
Tickets: FREE

Poems on Motherhood: Maria Ferguson and Deanna Rodger

Come along and hear from two stunning UK-based poets as they share poems and discussions on motherhood and parenting.

Maria Ferguson’s second poetry collection Swell (Penguin, 2025) is a raw and powerful documentation of one woman’s experience of becoming a mother. Against a backdrop of the sounds and sensations of daily life, she longs for her own mother's embrace, observes as her body changes and charts a course through loss and wilting house plants towards recovery, empowerment and renewal.

She will be joined by Bristol-based poet Deanna Rodger, who has performed across five continents and has been commissioned by numerous brands and organisations including; FIFA, Disney, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nationwide, Keats’ House Museum, Young Vic, Adidas, and BBC. Recently her reimagined version of ‘If’ was read by Serena Williams and she featured on BBC’s The Art That Made Us.

Presented in association with Penguin Random House UK.

Maria Ferguson:

Maria Ferguson is a writer and performer. She was a finalist of the Montreal International Poetry Prize and her debut collection, Alright, Girl? (Burning Eye, 2020) was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes. Her one-woman show, Fat Girls Don’t Dance, won a Saboteur Award; Essex Girl was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at VAULT Festival. Her second poetry collection, Swell, is published by Penguin.

Deanna Rodger:

Deanna Rodger is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion who has recently written and performed commissioned pieces including ‘Bigger Than Sport’ for BBC1’s Sports Personality of the Year, ‘Black History Matters’ for BBC Sport 2020 and ‘If’ which was read by Serena Williams for International Women's Day 2021. Deanna has over ten years of facilitation experience and has designed long term programs for schools and youth centres such as Active Citizens (British Council and Lyrix Organix), Creative Facilitation Training (Roundhouse) and Black Lives matter homepack (Hamilton Trust).


Part of Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival 2025
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