When I Have Fears - the Spooky and Sublime John Keats

Keats House is hosting When I Have Fears – the Spooky and Sublime John Keats on Saturday 14 November, an afternoon that looks at the darker side of Keats's work. It runs from 3 pm to 4.30 pm in Hampstead, and the whole thing is led by poets Julia Bird and Mike Sims.

The session leans into the Gothic side of Keats's writing, drawing on the spectral energy of La Belle Dame Sans Merci, the ghostly visions of Isabella, or The Pot of Basil, and the witches and elves that crop up in the corners of his poems. It's a reading and conversation, so you'll hear the poems read aloud and then hear Bird and Sims talk through them. The focus is on the eerie and the unsettling rather than the more familiar romantic side of his work.

Bird and Sims aren't just leading the afternoon; they're also the authors of A Joy Forever: A Walk out with John Keats (Paekakiriki Press, 2022), which you can find online or in the Keats House shop. The book is a companion to the kind of thing they'll be discussing here, so it's a good one to have in your bag if you want to follow along.

It's run as a social session, with tea and cake served, and you'll need to book in advance. Tickets are £10, and the whole thing runs from 3 pm to 4.30 pm on Saturday 14 November at Keats House, 10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR.