Six of the region’s most talented poets have collaborated with six world-class scientists attending the EuroScience Open Forum to create a collection of captivating performances which will be delivered in the stunning surroundings of the magnificent John Rylands Library at Science Meets Poetry on Tuesday 26 July (20:00-21:00).

 

Dr Sam Illingworth, from the School of Research, Enterprise and Innovation at Manchester Metropolitan University, has curated the event and paired the scientists with the poets. He will take the audience on a walking tour of the much-loved building, pausing to watch each performance.

 

Each work, specially written for the event, will bring together poetry and science in an immersive experience where biology meets balladry, physics encounters pentameter and chemistry confronts cadence – celebrating the creative similarities between science and the performing arts.

 

The evening will feature poets Kieren King, Ciarán Hodgers, Matt Panesh, Lenni Sanders, Rebecca Audra Smith and Jennie Bailey who have been paired with Dr Alessandra Sciutti, a researcher in cognition of humans and robots from The Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Dr Jonathan Pritchard, a researcher in Astrostatistics from Imperial College London, Dr Rosalind Le Feuvre from the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester,Professor Martyn Amos, Professor of Novel Computation, and expert on the science of crowds at Manchester Met, Dr Robert Kirk, a lecturer in medical histories and humanities at the University of Manchester and Professor Gary Pollock, head of the Sociology Department at Manchester Met and a specialist in child wellbeing.  Each performance relates to the scientists’ particular specialist area of research.

 

Dr Sam Illingworth, Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University who curated the Science Meets Poetry event said: “We have brought together some of Manchester’s finest poets with researchers from across the entire ESOF programme to perform collaborative pieces that are truly interdisciplinary and inspirational, in the wonderful setting of the John Ryland library. Come along and listen to what they have discovered on their journey of co-discovery, and find out for yourself how science and poetry are just two different ways of looking at the beautiful and complex world in which we live.”

 

The Science Meets Poetry event is a Science Lates as part of the Science in the City festival. Other Science Lates that week include Women in Science (Tuesday) which will bring women together to debate important questions, celebrate the careers of female scientists, innovators and educators, and inspire women to become leaders in their field event; Ada Sketches (Wednesday), a dramatic and interactive vocal piece at the Royal Northern College of Music based the inner world of Ada Lovelace; plus late night events at the Museum of Science and Industry and Manchester Museum (Wednesday).

 

To book a FREE ticket for this event please visit: http://tinyurl.com/science-and-poetry

Sam Illingworth writes a new poem about a piece of scientific research every week.  You can read his blog at thepoetryofscience.scienceblog.com.

For more details of the Science in the City Festival programme visit:

http://manchestersciencecity.com/science-in-the-city-festival/ or follow @sciencecity2016

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