Tribute to Heath-Stubbs

NINE months after the death of the blind poet John Heath-Stubbs, a host of celebrated poets will congregate in St James’s Church, Piccadilly, to pay tribute to their friend and peer.
The life and work of the 88 year-old, whom the writer A N Wilson tipped for Poet Laureate, will be honoured in a noon memorial service on Saturday September 29, featuring ­readings from Camden poets Alan Brownjohn, Dinah Livingstone, Bernard Saint and ­Anthony Astbury among others.
Composer Peter Dickinson will deliver a rare performance of his Song Cycle “The Unicorns”, with libretto by Mr Heath-Stubbs.
• And tonight (Thursday) Heath-Stubbs’ friend Dannie Abse will regale a Waterstone’s ­audience with excerpts from his recent memoir, The Presence. The writer, hailed as one of Wales’s most important poets, reads at the bookshop on Hampstead High Street. Tickets £3. Tel: 020 7794 1098.
• Meanwhile, at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre, 7pm, Michael Ondaatje (author of The English Patient), talks and signs copies of his new book – the haunting tale of a Californian family torn apart by violence, Divisadero.