Kim Hyesoon & Paul Muldoon
Explore reality from unconventional angles as two titans of the imagination, Kim Hyesoon and Paul Muldoon, present their work with live readings.
Get set for poetry that dismantles the everyday, making way for the surreal and the unforgettable.
One of South Korea’s most influential contemporary poets, Hyesoon has earned numerous accolades including the Kim Suyeong Literary Award and Midang Literature Award (as the first woman-identifying poet to win); the Griffin Poetry Prize for Autobiography of Death (2018); the National Book Critics Circle Award (as the first foreign poet to win); and the 2025 International Literature Award.
Author of 15 poetry collections, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Moy Sand and Gravel, Paul Muldoon’s accolades include the TS Eliot, Griffin and Pigott Prizes and the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Born in County Armagh in 1957 and based in the US since 1987, he is the Howard GB Clark Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, at Princeton University. In 2022, he was appointed Ireland Professor of Poetry.
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.