Cheltenham Poetry Festival 4-15th May

I am delighted to promote Cheltenham Poetry Festival for Anna Saunders this year. My tickets are already booked, don’t miss out on yours!

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Cheltenham Poetry Festival 2017 4 -15 May. Venues throughout the town.

 ‘ a poetry party with a healthy dose of anarchy’ – The Guardian. May 4 – 16, 2017

Poets speak out about Brexit, ISIS, Paris terror attacks and more.

Festival aims to reflect ‘ current state of the nation’.

The Regency town of Cheltenham is set to be the stage for an explosive showcase of new writing this summer.

The 12 day festival features drama, comedy, film and contemporary poets – and this year nothing is off limits when poets read new work inspired by Brexit, race relations and the Paris terror attacks.

Among the guests are internationally acclaimed poet Matthew Sweeney who will be reading new poems which address dramatic themes including Isis and the Paris Terror attacks.

Also on the bill – Rory Waterman reads from his edgy new collection Brexit Day on the Balmoral Estate, Roy McFarlane talks about identity and race in emotionally-charged poems and Jamaican-English poet Raymond Antrobus visits; a poet who is renowned for his uncompromising and powerful take on misogyny and cultural divisions.

Ray Antrobus

Paul Stephenson reads from The Days That Followed Paris – poems inspired by his residency in Paris at the time of the Terror attacks, plus Jasmine Gardosi and Lexia Legend – politically conscious poets who aren’t afraid of speaking out – perform new work.

Jasmine Gardosi

The events are part of Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s commitment to socially- conscious programming.

We wanted this year’s programme to showcase some of the UK’s most frank and fearless writers, to include bold and outspoken artists whose work reflects the current state of the nation. Cheltenham Poetry Festival Director Anna Saunders says.

This year’s festival shows how poetry is empowered when it takes risks –and we hope visitors to the festival will enjoy our fresh, and fearless exploration of the world we live in today.

Ben Parker

Fiona Sampson

 

www.cheltenhampoetryfest.co.uk

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Anna Saunders cheltpoetryfest@gmail.com

01242 285812

07400352396

Poetry & Place – The Hive – Ledbury Poetry Festival & Worcester LitFest

  

Friday night (11th April) saw the first of 3 events hosted at The Hive (Worcester Library) organised as a joint venture between the Ledbury Poetry Festival and WLF – Worcester LitFest & Fringe.

These events are organised and promoted by Ruth Stacey.

Copyright 2014 Gary Longden

 

 

For just £5.00 there were 4 poets on the bill.

Unfortunately both Fiona Sampson and David Caddy were unable to make the event. Fiona Sampson arranged another poet from London to take her place. Alan Brownjohn.

The theme was Landscape and Place and we were treated to a wide range of poetry around this theme.

Martin Malone kicked the night off and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to his poems. Alan Brownjohn delighted us with his humour, his funny and enjoyable poetry often had serious tales behind it. I loved hearing more from Angela France again, she shared some brilliant poems and told us stories about how some of them were inspired.

It was a great night with poetry friends, very inspiring. I had completely forgotten to take book money though, at the end I said that I hoped to find secret money- and I did! (Often put a handbag away with money still inside it, good trick!) I found £20 of secret money in the pocket of my bag, felt rich for a moment and then spent it on poetry books! At least I didn’t have to decide between Martin’s and Angela’s. I already had a copy of Hide from the Launch in Birmingham last year.

 

 

“It was a really lovely night and I appreciate all the people who came out to listen to poetry at the Hive.” © 2014 Ruth Stacey

Further Information and booking details for the next two events;

Poetry and Pollination & Carol Ann Duffy can be found here

RELATED LINKS:

http://ruthstacey.com/2014/03/17/poetry-and-place-at-the-hive/

http://thegirlwhogrewintoacrocodile.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/mouth-and-music-poetry-and-place/

 

From a Week Off to a Week On (It)!

Last week I took a week off from performance events, open mics and any socialising generally. I worked for 4 days and wrote in the evenings (mainly , desperately need to catch up with NaNoWriMo)!  I then had a 3 day weekend which consisted of a day off with Mr G to visit a newly opened Home store *they had 25% off, to buy paint and materials to start decorating our place, a missed birthday party, a 60th/ 40th Wedding Anniversary Party, planting seeds, catching up with writing projects, and missing the WLF Poetry Walk.

I have slept a lot too.

This week is the last week of work before Easter, I don’t get any pay in the holidays so I took on some extra work. I have 3.5 days work, a rehearsal (in a few hours) for Mouth & Music Dualogue set before work,  I am working all week, bar Friday (thank goodness)!

I have Mouth & Music   Tuesday evening,  a meeting with the other writers who work for Writing West Midlands on Thursday and on Friday night (after a day in my writing skin) I am going to  for the first of three events which link the Worcester Literature Festival and the Ledbury Poetry Festival.

‘Four poets with assured and distinctive voices for whom ‘place’ is not just the geographical or natural environments that inform the poems but also the human histories that unfold there, the people who are part of the landscape and part of the poem.’

Angela France

Martin Malone

David Caddy

Fiona Sampson

After a busy week I have an even more action packed weekend (start of my 2 week Easter break). On Saturday Najma Hush (a.k.a PhotoGiraffe) is having her 2nd Exhibition opening in Birmingham. The Exhibition is already up. I planned to perform at her opening which is from 11 to 1:30 and will be amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed watching every at the Diverse Dancers Exhibition and have since met up with Najma several times at poetry events (which would make celebrating her photography even more exciting)!

It is also Birmingham’s Independent Book Fayre, great way of meeting small presses and networking – but I may as well forget that 11 – 5pm because I won’t have time to get to it, maybe next year. This event is also run by Writing West Midlands, who I will be working for on Saturday.

My issue with getting to the exhibition, is that I then need to travel across county to get to my Assistant Writing job for 1:30 and I KNOW if I make it to the Exhibition opening I am going to want to stay there.

After all that it is also a friend’s 40th Birthday Party, she is celebrating at a pub with a band on and is having a buffet also. Plus it gives me a chance to see friends I missed this weekend and have not seen in a long while.

On Sunday I am celebrating an anniversary with friends who are having a lunchtime function.

I also hope to write and submit 1 short story and several poems.  

Have a good week! Happy Writing!