On Literary Performance

When I was eighteen, I started running poetry events in my local pub. They were, in truth, the first lit events I'd ever attended, and this gave my programming a certain, erm, random quality that I hope was endearing. My utter ignorance of how things worked also led to me having to gumption to invite Fleur Adcock down - and her accepting. I was studying her work for my A Level at the time.

Back then, I treated it all fairly uncritically, simply grateful to be in the same room as a real live au...