Poetry Twins share tales of love, loss and resilience
Spoken word lovers can hear the Poetry Twins – Rachel Davies and Hilary Robinson – share their moving poems about love, loss, and caring for loved ones with dementia at Bolton Socialist Club, with proceeds supporting dementia charities
Poetry lovers are in for a poignant evening as Write Out Loud returns to the Bolton Socialist Club on Sunday 12 April, featuring guest poets Rachel Davies and Hilary Robinson, known collectively as the "Poetry Twins."
The duo will read from their joint poetry collection, An Altogether Different Place, which draws on their personal experiences of caring for loved ones with dementia. Robinson's husband was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2022, while Davies' partner received a diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies in 2023.
Their poems explore themes of love, friendship, and loss, offering a moving reflection on human resilience. Proceeds from the collection will be donated to support dementia charities across the UK.
In the introduction to their collection, the poets write that grief is something you "come to know by slow degrees," and that their poetry provides "a joint space to laugh, cry, find context, and write their experiences."
Several of their works have already received critical acclaim. Their poems Degrees of Challenge and This is Not a Poem About Dementia were nominated for a Hippocrates Prize in 2024, which celebrates excellence in literature on health and medicine.
