23 January 2006

Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour

Ask John Leslie or Pete Doherty: a line can really cost you. If it’s not your bank balance, it’s your professional reputation. Not to mention, of course, your health.

For some lines that are
a) cheap (£7.50, in fact) and b) really good for you, head to The British Library for The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour, a series of celebrity poetry readings  run by the much-loved Irish novelist Hart (Damage, Sin, Oblivion).

The first, on January 25, sees Jeremy Irons, Mark Strong and Helen McCrory reading Philip Larkin. The line-up of stars varies, but in the past Roger Moore has been coupled with Kipling, Ralph Fiennes and Damian Lewis with Auden, and Sir Bob Geldof with Keats and Shelley.

All give their services for free to raise funds for The Actors Centre and The British Library, so it’s a charitable endeavour as well as an educational one.

If only taking in a few lines was always as beneficial.

The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour, at The British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 (020 7412 7222 or josephinehart.com).