Mashed potato, the joys of futuristic Internet dating and the language of love were all discussed at Waterloo Quarter’s Packed Lunch Poetry event.

Employees from several Waterloo businesses joined up-and-coming poets Joe Dunthorne and Heather Phillipson at the 1901 Arts Club in Exton Street on National Poetry Day, Thursday, October 7.

Heather and Joe both performed some of their own work before asking the audience to create their own “noun+7” poems using a dictionary.

This process saw the audience change every noun in a piece of text to the seventh word after it in the dictionary.

The event ended with more poetry recitals, and food and refreshments were also provided as part of the workshop, which was supported by the Lambeth-based Poetry School.

The event was part of Waterloo Quarter’s Packed Lunch scheme, which aims to improve work/life balance and is funded by the Department of Work and Pensions.