IF?YOU?are already missing the South Downs Poetry Festival which entertained us with rich verse, lively readings and a host of inspiring events, take heart.
There is much to look forward to at the prestigious Winchester Poetry Festival, which is now taking booking for the event which takes place across three days, from October 7-9.
It features a star-studded line-up with renowned poets Simon Armitage, Sinead Morrissey, Roger McGough and Bernard O-Donoghue on the bill, along with around 40 others poets and speakers.
Specially commissioned work is a highlight of the festival, and Simon Armitage has been invited to write a new poem, which will be showcased for the first time in the festival brochure.
He will be talking at the festival about his collaboration with stonecutter Pip Hall on Stanza Stones, a site-specific art installation along the Pennine Way.
Seven poets whose lives and imaginations have been shaped by the chalk landscape of the South Downs have also been invited to contribute new poems, commissioned by the festival and co-funded by the South Downs National?Park Authority.
Themes for this year are based around uprisings and rebellions being commemorated.
Some of Britain’s favourite poets have been asked to reflect on the Easter Rising in 1916, and the October Revolution, in Russia in 1917.
John Keats took a more modest but revolutionary decision to quit a career in medicine for a life in poetry 200 years ago, and to celebrate this, three poets will be delivering journal letters reflecting on their craft, life and preoccupations.
Professor Nick Roe, author of John Keats:?A?New Life, will also give a talk on the poet in Winchester.
For more information visit the website www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org
Organisers of the South Downs Poetry Festival are looking for people to help make next year’s event even better and bigger.?Fundraisers, poets, designers, Tweeters, those with bookshops or venues and more are asked to get in touch. E-mail [email protected]