LUKE KENNARD: BLACK BAG

We are delighted to welcome award-winning writer LUKE KENNARD back to Voce for a publication day event for his new off-kilter campus novel which follows an out of work actor who agrees to a new role attending a series of Autumn lectures whilst zipped up into an oversized BLACK BAG.

The event will be chaired by Birmingham writer KEIRAN GODDARD.

‘A masterpiece...wildly original and funny...’ JOE DUNTHORNE author of SUBMARINE

LUKE KENNARD is an award-winning poet & novelist. His literary criticism has appeared in the London Review of Books, Poetry London, & Times Literary Supplement. He lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. In 2014 he was named one of the 'Next Generation Poets' by the Poetry Book Society in their once-per-decade list. ‘Cain’, was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize & described by Alan Hollinghurst as 'the cleverest and funniest thing I've read this year'. ‘Notes on the Sonnets’, an anarchic response to Shakespeare's sonnets, won the Forward prize for Best Poetry Collection in 2021. His first novel, ‘The Transition’, was BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime & was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His most recent novel is ‘The Answer to Everything’. His poetry collection, ‘The Book of Jonah’, was published by Picador in 2025.

This is one of our HOME events, placing our great city right at the heart & celebrating the depth & diversity of the Birmingham & West Midlands literary scene through talks, launches, symposiums & more.

TICKETS: £4 standard entry / £16.99 book & entry

Please book your ticket here on our Eventbrite page*

*Please note we will be unable to offer refunds on tickets when requested within 7 days of an event date.

VOCE BOOKS is located at 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth with step-free access via BRIG Café. For further enquiries about the event, or to discuss any other access requirements please email [email protected]

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