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New poems from Iain and launch of Chris’ new book “Dreamt by Ghosts” – live in Abney Park Chapel
“The notion was to cut a crude V into the sprawl of the city, to vandalise dormant energies by an act of ambulant signmaking.”– Iain Sinclair, “Lights Out For The Territory”
“If time can be made to flow then surely, it’s here, in London, the city of chance encounters. All flow must be in the same direction as my dreams, moving towards the strange. With my journal with me I walk towards Stoke Newington and Abney Park Cemetery. [...] Abney’s garden gives the motive for walking it off, for thinking about poetry and eternity—a necessary distraction.”– Chris McCabe, “Dreamt by Ghosts”
Join us at Abney Park Chapel for an evening of live poetry, conversation and literary dreaming with two contemporary writers and long-term collaborators for whom this cemetery has been both special and deeply provocative.
This event will formally launch multidisciplinary poet and writer Chris McCabe’s new book, “Dreamt by Ghosts” (published by Tenement Press). This book is an “autobiographical digression” and a “singular, personal anthology”, with Chris’ journal at its heart. Using radical literary techniques and traditions from hauntology to the collation of ephemera, it looks at isolation, cityscapes, family, fraternity and more through the lens of dreaming and internal life. Among Chris’ previous works is “Buried Garden: Lockdown with the Lost Poets of Abney Park Cemetery”, a book for which Abney Park Trust proudly provided staff and volunteer support.
Iain Sinclair has spent a Hackney life on foot, conducting dérives – or experimental and largely unplanned journeys – through urban landscapes both in recognisable London cityscapes and on the edgelands. He not only presents and documents the marginalia and semiotics encountered in urban life, but also faces up to the psychic experiences triggered by and lived out in London and beyond – fantasy, perception, spectral hauntings of the past, and much more. Iain, who is a James Tait Black Memorial Prize winner, is known for books like “London Orbital” (a psychogeographical exploration of the M25) and “Lights Out For The Territory” (which features Abney Park).
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Both Iain and Chris will read from their works and explore the inspiration they’ve drawn from the cemetery.
A bar selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, plus an Abney Park Trust merchandise stall, will be available on the night. Copies of "Dreamt by Ghosts" and other books will also be available for sale.
This event is part of Abney Park Trust's 2025 "Radical Writers" festival. The festival explores the works of writers inspired by Abney's and Hackney's diverse history of radical thought and action. We’ll be joined by scribes from across an array of genres, disciplines and backgrounds. And we’ll be thinking about radicalism in many senses – old, new, cultural, political, social and beyond. To see the full line up and book tickets for other events, visit abneypark.org/radicalwriters.
For any queries, please contact info@abneypark.org. If you have accessibility needs, please contact us on info@abneypark.org and we will get back to you and assist. Some seating is upstairs on the chapel mezzanine and some is on the ground floor in the chapel; please let us know if you have an accessibility need for particular seating. As this is a volunteer-led event, replies may take a few days.
Location
Abney Park Chapel, N16 0LH
Collage image credit on event calendar page: Chris McCabe, from the Tenement Press edition of “Dreamt by Ghosts”