Special Edition: East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Listen to poets Maggie Harris and Taz Rahman as they discuss shared influences and read their work aloud.
Landscapes, journeys and making sense of belonging to multiple cultural identities connect the poetry of Maggie Harris and Taz Rahman.
Both poets have spent significant periods of their writing lives in Wales, and their respective Guyanese and Bengali heritages have uniquely informed their poetry, connecting Wales to other parts of the world.
Both writers are influenced by the work of St Lucian poet Derek Walcott. In Harris’s ‘I Sing to the Greenhearts’ (2025), Guyana’s greenheart tree serves as a powerful symbol of the environment.
Similarly, fellow Seren Books poet Taz Rahman writes about a deep affinity to the flora and fauna at the confluence of the Welsh rivers Taff and Ely in his jazz-improvisation-inspired 2024 debut poetry collection East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the National Poetry Library Southbank Centre
The National Poetry Library is open six days a week.
Tuesday, 12 noon – 6pm
Wednesday – Sunday, 12 noon – 8pm
Monday, closed.
Getting here
The National Poetry Library is on Level 5 of our Royal Festival Hall.
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Study & library use
The library is London’s only space dedicated to poetry study. Visitors studying another subject or looking for a place to work are kindly asked to find an alternative space in the Royal Festival Hall.