Poets for Pussy Riot

We organised two events in 2012 to protest the imprisonment of Pussy Riot in Russia, in solidarity with artists of our generation suffering injustice. The first event was held at the Rich Mix Arts Centre on August 29th and the second at the Freeword Centre on . Both events featured an extraordinary amount of poets, all of whom presented new works in response to the call and hundreds of people in attendance, showing the depth of feeling on this issue for the London poetry and art community surrounding the Enemies project and the other partners in this venture.

A week after the news that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich of the Russian punk collective, Pussy Riot, were sentenced to two years in prison, over 30 contemporary poets came together at the Rich mix arts centre in Brick Lane, London for a unique evening of readings intended as an act of solidarity through the medium of poetry, and a celebration of the courage and spirit of fellow writers of this generation.
The event will featured Tim Atkins, David Berridge, Harry Burke, Becky Cremin, Nia Davies, Ollie Evans, Irum Fazal, SJ Fowler, Charlotte Geater, Jeff Hilson, Kirsty Irving, Keith Jebb, Antony John, Marek Kazmierski, Robert Kiely, Francesca Lisette, Chris McCabe, Mendoza, Reza Mohammadi, Ryan Ormonde, Nat Raha, Will Rowe, Andy Spragg, Jon Stone, Philip Terry, Jack Underwood, Juha Virtanen, Stephen Watts, MJ Weller, James Wilkes, Jenny Wong, Michael Zand and Sara Yasin from Index on Censorship (http://www.indexoncensorship.org/tag/pussy-riot)
Tim Atkins - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9ZEd9LQBXc
David Berridge - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJyVWQzTrpM
Harry Burke - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzaGHg2l3gE
Nia Davies - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE9lEjFIyPc
Ollie Evans - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFpOWPnr9o
Reza Mohammedi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHXWlefECSM
SJ Fowler - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-b8KL8StMU
Charlotte Geater - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQNIiBVqt3Q
Jeff Hilson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljHcfofimnQ
Kirsty Irving - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXNtsU1urk
Keith Jebb - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiFi9Z30SSs
Antony John - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwZQy55yzZM
Marek Kazmierski - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIjeSvMMlwc
Robert Kiely - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTSpKLjO7TU
Juha Virtanen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLFbfoOe6_o
Irum Fazal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcCjAZGRAaE
Jon Stone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igz9DKOZ2o4
Francesca Lisette - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aFSPUqtmFE
Chris McCabe - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igmb4UnSuZ4
Becky Cremin & Ryan Ormonde - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7cmQ0lnoa4
Mendoza - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pagm1g4NSY
Nat Raha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9_lv828M4
William Rowe - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV4rcnimu6Y
Andy Spragg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5sm1HPI29c
Philip Terry - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWJJSDhWpEc
Jack Underwood - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpxUPk3-n0w
Stephen Watts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiud5FAqfY0
James Wilkes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E37JWNMJ750
Jenny Wong - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqcRpc2LDk8
Michael Zand - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHhNVDUgVlM
Sara Yasin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcS7RFzrM_I

Poets for Pussy Riot II

"Since the first Poets for Pussy Riot event, held on August 29th 2012, Nadezha Tokolonnikova and Maria Alyokhina remain in prison, serving out sentences in notorious penal colonies. The community of poets that came together then, as an act of solidarity and commitment that this injustice should not be forgotten, came together once more on November 21st, in the Free Word centre in Farringdon, in London, in association with English PEN, to mark the nine-month anniversary of Pussy Riot's protest Punk Prayer performance, which took place on February 21st 2012 in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Nearly 40 poets contributed to an unforgettable evening of original poetry."