Poets Sarah Howe, Erica Hesketh, and Karen Downs-Barton explore themes of matrilineage and family as they read from and reflect on their latest collections through the lenses of motherhood, hosted by April Yee.
Sarah Howe’s Foretokens examines how colonial histories and family fragmentation ripple across time, while Erica Hesketh’s debut collection In the Lily Room plunges into the raw emotional terrain of early motherhood; with mental health, bodily change, and shifting identity. Karen Downs-Barton’s Minx bears witness to a precarious Anglo-Romani childhood; charting survival, belonging, and resilience amid a backdrop of marginalisation, displacement, and state care.
In their readings and discussions they’ll examine what it means to be a parent and a child in the context of these generational legacies, colonial histories and in the face of climate crisis.
Photo credits: Karen Downs – Barton (c) Stephen Downs-Barton, Sarah Howe (c) Marc Lixenberg, Erica Hesketh (c) Christy Ku and April Yee (c) Mahdi Messouli.
About Deptford Literature Festival
Deptford Literature Festival takes place each March and celebrates the diversity and creativity of Deptford and Lewisham through words, stories and performance. It is run by London Writers Centre in a collaboration with independent producer Tom MacAndrew, with support from the Albany, Deptford Lounge and Lewisham Libraries. The festival is part of our campaign to make Lewisham the UK’s first Borough of Literature. You can find out more about Deptford Literature Festival and see the full festival programme at: deptfordlitfest.com
Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall, Spread the Word and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 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.
Sarah Howe’s first book, Loop of Jade (2015), won the T.S. Eliot Prize and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Her second collection, Foretokens (2025) is a PBS Choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She is the Poetry Editor at Chatto & Windus.
Karen Downs-Barton is an Anglo-Romani writer who, after a peripatetic childhood including times in state care, now lives in Wiltshire. Winner of the Cosmo Davenport-Hines prize (2021) and Creative Future silver medallist (2022) she holds a PhD from King’s College London, exploring identity through minority languages and multilingualism in entertainment industries. Her pamphlet Didicoy was published by the Poetry Business in 2023 and selected as a Poetry Book Society Choice that year. Her debut collection, Minx, was published by Chatto & Windus in 2025.
Karen Downs-Barton photo photo (c) Stephen Downs-Barton
April Yee’s poetry, fiction, and essays have been named Best of the Net, two-time The Best American Essays Notable, and winner of the Manchester Fiction Prize and Ivan Juritz Prize. A Harvard alumna and former journalist, she reported in more than a dozen countries at sites ranging from Chernobyl to Iraqi oil fields before moving to London. She has been a fellow or scholar at the University of East Anglia, Oxbelly, and elsewhere.
This year, the festival is running with limited public or charitable support. We have brought in a ticket price of £3 for the majority of the events to help cover some of the festival costs.
Children’s and family events are free for parents, guardians and carers. Tickets must be purchased for children. Parents, guardians carers must stay with their child/ children during the event.
Carers can attend events for free. When booking your ticket, you can add a free carers ticket to your basket.
Six of the festival events are free to attend: Lewisham Libraries Celebrates Local Writers (Saturday 21 March), The Goldsmiths Prize Presents: Kate Briggs In Conversation (Wednesday 25 March), Poetry in the Library (Thursday 26 March) and on the festival day – Saturday 28 March: Lewisham Writers’ Link Up, Lewisham Writes: Writing the Seasons, and CRIPtic x London Writers Centre Salon.
As far as possible, by booking a ticket we ask that you commit to attending, as places for in-person events are limited. If you can no longer attend, please cancel your ticket so someone else can come along.
You can manage your ticket/s by clicking on the ‘manage tickets’ link at the end of your booking confirmation email.
Three of our in-person events on the festival day (Saturday 28 March) will have BSL Interpretation in-place for audiences that require it: South London in Fiction; Mother Tongue: Poetry, Family and Inheritance; and Navigating Culture: Black Male Writers on Britain Today.
BSL interpretation is available on request for all other festival day (Saturday 28 March) events. If you require this, please book a ticket by Friday 6 March, and request BSL interpretation as you book. We will then arrange for this to be put in place.
All venues are wheelchair accessible, with accessible toilets.
The festival hub on Saturday 28 March, Deptford Lounge, has Changing Place facilities, an induction loop and assistance dogs are welcome. For more information: deptfordlounge.org.uk/access
If you require assistance on the festival day itself, Saturday 28 March, please come to the Festival Hub in the foyer of Deptford Lounge where we will be happy to help you.
If you require additional access provision in order to attend or take part in the festival, for example, larger print handouts at workshops, or a scribe, please get in touch before the festival day at: festival@londonwriterscentre.org.uk
Deptford Literature Festival celebrates local talent and introduces exciting new writers from Lewisham and nearby boroughs. We want to be able to continue to offer our workshops, readings, events and community projects at a low cost. We do not want finances to be a barrier to anyone taking part. If you are in a position to make a donation, please give a gift today. Anything you give will help more people come to future festivals.
BSL Interpretation
