Ruth Fainlight: Somewhere Else Entirely

Film Screening and Q&A

“When I’m not writing poetry everything is okay, life’s fine, but it is not entire. Something is missing.” – Ruth Fainlight

A rare evening offering an intimate insight into the life and work of one of Britain’s most distinguished poets – Ruth Fainlight – in a film created by acclaimed photographer Emily Andersen. The screening will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with Emily Andersen and Ruth Fainlight.

Andersen’s film is a touching portrait of Fainlight, now aged 94, delicately drawing out different fragments of the poet’s life. Fainlight is captured by Andersen at her home in London, making notes, on her walks, and in the seaside town of Brighton. Each image is carefully framed, quietly paying tribute to her poetry, and to her extraordinary life and career.

Ruth’s intensely visual poetry and fiction are rich with themes of time, memory, and loss. In the film, she movingly recites her work Somewhere Else Entirely composed after the death of her husband Alan Sillitoe. Written during her 80s, the book also includes several short pieces of prose, and memoirs of her childhood years spent in the USA.

Ruth Fainlight
Ruth Fainlight was born in New York City in 1931 and moved to England when she was 15. During a lifetime dedicated to writing she has produced numerous collections of poetry and short stories and translations. In 1959 she married the writer, Alan Sillitoe, and her many literary friendships included Sylvia Plath, Jane and Paul Bowles, and Robert Graves.

Emily Andersen 
Andersen has been a photographer for four decades. Her work includes interiors, architecture, and landscape but she is best known for her award-winning portraiture, capturing well-known faces including Nico, Peter Blake, and Helen Mirren. Somewhere Else Entirely is Andersen’s first completed film portrait and is inspired by her decade-long friendship with Fainlight. The exhibition also shares its title with Fainlight’s 2018 poetry collection which features Andersen’s photographs on the cover.

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