In March 2020, Michael Rosen became unwell. Soon he was struggling to breathe, and he was admitted to hospital with COVID-19. What followed was months on the wards: including six weeks in an induced coma, and then rehab and recovery as the NHS saved his life, and then got him back on his feet. Throughout it all, a diary was kept at the end of Michael's bed where doctors, nurses and his wife, Emma-Louse Williams, wrote him letters of hope and support. And as soon as he was awake, Michael was ready to start writing his own story.

Join the former Poet Laureate for this virtual event as he shares that story, alongside thoughts on his fragile health and shifting mind-set – from the confusion and fear at the onset of the virus and admission to hospital, then, strange, foggy memories inside an induced coma, and the long, slow recovery from the effects of long-COVID. And as life continues around him, Michael considers his newfound appreciation for the everyday – doing the grocery shopping, and time spent with his children.

With live readings from his reflective and life-affirming collection of poetry and words, Many Different Kinds of Love, Michael will also share messages from his wife and the doctors, nurses and all the NHS staff who treated him.

Don’t miss the opportunity to spend an evening with one of Britain’s best-loved poets for a universal and lasting meditation on illness and recovery; change – in both the seasons of the world and our lives; and how in any instant, the ordinary can become extraordinary.

‘Touching and, at times, surprisingly amusing’ Independent

‘Emotional...impossible to read without a lump in the throat’ Observer