Vanessa Bell

Vanessa Bell is an award winning poet, performer, artist and literary activist from Quebec City whose work has been showcased across Quebec and Europe. She creates work in which a multitude of women’s voices are heard alongside a strong focus on the natural world. She is participating at Nottingham Poetry Festival as part of her tour to Ireland and UK during May and June 2025. 

We were delighted to welcome Vanessa Bell on her tour of the UK and Ireland this Summer. She will be speaking at three events, two Nottingham City of Literature events and one collaborative event with Branching Out, as part of Nottingham Poetry Festival. 

 

You can watch her poem ‘In This Version Of The Story, written as part of the Branching Out project here:

Vanessa Bell

Vanessa is a poet, performer, artist, curator and literary activist. The director of the poetry collection at Éditions du Quartz,  her literary arts practice has taken her work to the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia. She is the author of the collections De rivières (2019, La Peuplade) and Monuments (2022, Le Noroît), the book Fendre les eaux (2023, De l’Homme) and co-director of the Anthologie de la poésie actuelle des femmes au Québec 2000 | 2020 (2021, Remue-ménage). Her writing is vivid and sharp, a whirlwind of audacity whose central themes are sisterhood, filiation, real and fantasized territories. Vanessa has won several grants and awards, including the Prix Félix-Antoine-Savard (2021, FIPTR), and she was a finalist for the Prix de l’Institut canadien de Québec (2021) and the Prix du CALQ – Artiste de l’année en Capitale-Nationale (2023). Under the mentorship of Nicole Brossard, Vanessa Bell is the first francophone Canadian to be supported by the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Rising Stars program (2022).  

Nottingham Poetry Festival Events

Wednesday 11 June: Monuments with Vanessa Bell 

Venue: Nottingham Women’s Library, Nottingham Women’s Centre

Time: 6pm – 7.30pm. Tour of Library: 6pm, event starts at 6.30pm.

In partnership with Nottingham Women’s Library 

During this event, Vanessa discussed her latest collection, Monuments, inspired by her travels to Newfoundland and her connection to nature and music of the area. She  read poems from the collection in French. English translations were provided.

Please note:

Nottingham Women’s Centre is fully not accessible and the library is on the top floor.
Nottingham Women’s Centre is a women only space, and therefore tickets are available for women only. The centre is a trans women inclusive space. For more information please read NWC policy.

Thursday 14 June:  Branching Out – The wonder of Treescapes

In collaboration with Branching Out

Time: 5.30 – 6.30 pm

Venue: City Arts, 11-13 Hockley, Nottingham, Ng1 1FH

Vanessa Bell read the new poem alongside others from her collection. The Branching Out team Alma Solarte-Tobon (Loughborough University) and Janice Ansine (The Open University) will talk about the project and outcomes. They were also joined by Andy Barret from Excavate, as he embarked on the new National Lottery Heritage funded project to create an audio guide for Colwick Woods in Nottingham. Finally we concluded with a film created by the Future of UK Treescapes that highlighted the contributions from all the projects funders by UKRI, to understand the importance of trees in the UK.

About Branching Out

‘Branching Out’, a project under UKRI’s Future Treescapes Programme, sought to combine the social and cultural values of our urban treescapes with the biophysical data. It used storytelling and citizen science to bring new voices into the public discourse around trees and to co-produce knowledge to support robust planning and policy for a sustainable future. The project partners include Loughborough University, The Open University, York University, Forest Research, Stockholm Enviroment Institude and Ecologos

https://www.valueoftrees.co.uk/

Friday 13 June :  Creativity and careers in a UNESCO City of Literature 

Venue: Room 6 & 7, Nottingham Central Library

Time: 5:30pm – 6:45pm

The event explored Vanessa’s poetry, creative practice and her work in Quebec City, a fellow UNESCO City of Literature, hosted by Nottingham City of Literature Director Hannah Trevarthen.

Please note:

This event was open to all and the Library is fully accessible. Visitor information