I took part in a reading organised by the Mechanics’ Institute Review team on November 17th at the gorgeous independent bookshop Brick Lane Books in London’s East End. There were seven of us reading work from the current issue of MIR15, and Julia Bell, course director of the Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck, came along to give us a preview of her cycle of autobiographical poems Hymnal. Wine was drunk and nothing spilled, friends were made and many books sold. A lovely evening. Mechanics’ Institute Review 16, which will be published in 2019, is now open for contributions.
Vicky Grut 