‘For I wish to see me reassembled | in that dark-room of your mind.’
Thus wrote Veronica Forrest-Thomson (1947–1975) in the title poem of her collection Identi-kit, published the year she turned 20. She lived to just 27, but her small body of creative and critical work looms large in the personal canons of many poets and critics. In the thriving poetry scene at Girton, where she studied for her PhD, Forrest-Thomson seems a constant, living presence: her juxtaposing of the theoretical and the emotional, of the local and the expansive, combined with her formal diversity, allusive range and acoustic playfulness, makes her a meeting point for several traditions, a complex and multi-pronged tuning fork.
Fifty years on from Forrest-Thomson’s death, Girton’s New Initiatives Fund has enabled the planning and execution of a commemorative symposium, to be held on Saturday 15 November. Organised by the English Fellows in collaboration with Forrest-Thomson’s literary executor, Gareth Farmer, the symposium will see several Girtonian authors – among them Gwyneth Lewis, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, and Amy Jeffs – return to the College to discuss Forrest-Thomson’s writing and its ongoing resonances, resistances and reassemblies. Further confirmed speakers include: Malcolm Guite, Jeff Hilson, Grevel Lindop, and Yvonne Reddick.
The event will also include student performances of Forrest-Thomson's work, commissioned musical pieces inspired by Forrest-Thomson's poetry, and an exhibition and tour of the Archive, displaying key materials from Forrest-Thomson’s life and work, drawing from the wide range of published and unpublished materials housed in Girton College Archive.
As well as attending the talks and performances, attendees are invited to register for a formal dinner and a post-dinner celebration. There are three options for registration:
• Symposium ticket (including drinks reception): £14.45
• Student’s symposium ( incl. drinks reception): Free
• Additional dinner supplement (3 courses +wine): £62.65
Light refreshments will also be served to all throughout the day.