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Special Edition: Red Bean Poetry

Prize-winning poets of Asian heritage read from their latest work, exploring the meaning of art, art-making, pivotal memories and transformations in life.

More details for National Poetry Library, Level 5, Blue Side, Royal Festival Hall
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Hosted by Jenny Wong for Red Bean Poetry, the poets featured tonight are Troy Cabida, Erica Hesketh, Nina Mingya Powles and Eric Yip, poets with a close connection to the National Poetry Library.

Troy Cabida is the author of Neon Manila (2025), Two Poems (2025), Symmetric of Bone: Poems after Elsa Peretti (2024) and War Dove (2020).

Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. From 2016 to 2024 she was Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. Her debut collection, In the Lily Room, is published by Nine Arches Press and explores early motherhood.

Nina Mingya Powles is a writer and poet from Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the author of several books including In the Hollow of the Wave (2025), a collection of poems and collages, and Small Bodies of Water (2021), a collection of essays.

Eric Yip is from Hong Kong and the author of Exposure (ignitionpress, 2024). He won the National Poetry Competition in 2021 and is a winner of the 2025 Eric Gregory Award.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 16+

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.

Saturday 2 May,  Saturday 9 May  – The Royal Festival Hall is closed for an event, but the library remains open  – access via the Royal Festival Hall Artists Entrance.
Sunday 3 May,  Sunday 10 May – The National Poetry Library is closed.

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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.