On Saturday November 19th 2005 a memorial event took place at Lauderdale House in Highgate, London, to celebrate the life of Joan Abse. Family and friends gathered to remember Joan, and to hear speeches and poems celebrating her life.

This website has been put together to include speeches and poems that were read on the night so that those who were not able to attend can have a chance to read the speeches, and those that did attend can have another chance to remember.

Included on the site are the speeches made by Joan's son David, her friends and publishers Pat Wain, Cary Archard and Jeremy Robson and poems by her husband Dannie Abse, which were read on the night by her daughter Keren and by the poet Tony Curtis.

Keren also read from Joan's introductions to her books "My LSE" and "Letters from Wales", William Oxley read his own poem dedicated to Joan, and Tony Curtis read from Dannie's "Intermittent Journals".

 

 

 

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