2019 Annual Report
Read all about our amazing 10 day festival, and our year round work in schools, vulnerable community groups, emerging poets and poetry critics. Record audiences, volunteers and fantastic poetry competition …[Read More]
Category: Announcements
Pop Up Poetry Shop (now closed)
Too late for Christmas now. The Ledbury Poetry Festival shop has now closed. Sorry we missed you.
Aleš Šteger and Ilya Kaminsky interview by Sandeep Parmar
Text by Sandeep Parmar. Aleš Šteger is a poet, prose writer and essayist, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. His work has been widely translated into several languages including German, Czech, Croatian …[Read More]
Ledbury: Junction for Poetry and the Poetry Chair at Ledbury Station
Passengers passing through Ledbury station during the July poetry festival noticed something unusual. The railway station was renamed “Ledbury: Junction for Poetry” in honour of the town’s poetry festival and …[Read More]
New Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics Announced!
Four new mentees join the existing cohort of eight poetry critics: Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Joanna Lee, Stephanie Sy-Quia and Sarah-Jean Zubair Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a British-born Ghanaian poet, writer …[Read More]
A.K. BLAKEMORE WINNER OF THE LEDBURY FORTE POETRY PRIZE FOR SECOND COLLECTIONS – Hear the Podcast
Congratulations to A.K. Blakemore who is the winner of the 2017/18 Ledbury Forte Poetry Prize for Second Collections for Fondue published by Offord Road Books. You can hear a podcast of …[Read More]
2019 Festival Programme!
The 2019 Festival Programme! Friday 5 – Sunday 14 July, 2019 To view the programme please click the link below: Ledbury Poetry Festival Programme 2019 Want a programme sent to …[Read More]
New! Kickstarter Campaign – please support!
Ledbury Poetry Festival’s first ever crowdfunding campaign is launched! Ledbury Poetry Festival is launching its first ever crowd funding campaign with Kickstarter. This campaign aims to raise funds to …[Read More]
FREE Voice Coaching Workshop for poets!
LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL FULLY FUNDED LINKLATER METHOD VOICE COACHING RESIDENTIAL WORKSHOP FOR NEW POETS DATES: 13 – 16 MAY 2019 HELLENS MANOR, MUCH MARCLE NR LEDBURY, HEREFORDSHIRE, HR8 2LY …[Read More]
Become a Festival Intern! Deadline 19 April
Applications are now being taken for this fantastic opportunity! Think you have what it takes to be Festival intern? Meet famous poets, celebrities and performers! Learn skills in event managing, …[Read More]
Ledbury Poetry Competition winners announced!
THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN DECIDED! Go to https://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/ledbury-poetry-competition/ Ledbury Poetry Festival 2019 Poetry Competition carries a great first prize of £1000 cash and a residential course at Ty Newydd , …[Read More]
2019 Ledbury Poetry Residential – sold out!
Ledbury Poetry Festival and The University of Roehampton Poetry Centre are offering a fully catered, immersive poetry residential 1 – 4 July 2019 Dates Midday Monday 1st July to 2pm, Thursday …[Read More]
Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics
Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics The successful national mentoring programme, to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing, returns and opens for applications from new and emerging critical voices Application deadline: April 1st …[Read More]
Troubadour of The Hills!
Walking Rodborough Common by Frances March Motherhood always had a hill to climb. Walks across the common or beneath scarp-tucked larches stretched limbs and minds. These grasslands cool the head, …[Read More]
Join LPF’s Unity Lottery
Unity Lottery Ledbury Poetry Festival has teamed up with Unity Lottery, a charity lottery, and we receive a significant proportion of the payment into it where we are the participant’s named …[Read More]
Young Poet in Residence Eloise Unerman
Hear Ledbury, a poem by Eloise Unerman, Ledbury Poetry Festival Young Poet in Residence As winner of the Young Person’s category of the Ledbury Poetry Festival …[Read More]
Poets and Schools
Margaret Atwood Visits John Masefield High School Ledbury Poetry Festival arranged for English students at John Masefield High School to have an intimate audience with world famous Canadian author Margaret …[Read More]
Free Events
A number of events at the 2018 Ledbury Poetry Festival are free! For some just turn up, for others you will need to book a ticket as space at the …[Read More]
Emma Bridgewater Mugs For Sale
Special for 2018 – these earthenware mugs are a bespoke project by Emma Bridgewater especially for Ledbury Poetry Festival. They are completely unique and once they’re gone, there will be …[Read More]
Ledbury Celebration 8th July
On Sunday 8th July Ledbury will be celebrating in the street! Music, performers, local food and drink suppliers and other local businesses will join the Festival to celebrate all that …[Read More]
Festival tickets now on sale
Tickets for the 2018 Ledbury Poetry Festival are now on general sale. Events are listed in a number of ways: You can also call the Festival Box Office on 01531 …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with Jacqui Rowe 5th June
Tuesday 5 June 2018 with featured poet Jacqui Rowe (postponed from 3 April) In the Panelled Room of The Masters House, 7pm – 9pm Jacqui Rowe has had four poetry …[Read More]
Gregorian Chant Workshop
Chant works by the Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus, 530 – 609, including ‘Vexilla Regis prodeunt’, ‘Pange lingua gloriosi’ and ‘Salve festa dies’ This event has now taken place.
Poetry Performers’ Bowls 2018
This year Ledbury Poetry Festival has partnered with Hereford College of the Arts to bring a unique opportunity to HCA students: design and make the festival bowls we give to …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with Roy McFarlane, Tuesday 8th May
Tuesday 8 May 2018 with featured poet Roy McFarlane Roy McFarlane was born in Birmingham of Jamaican parentage and spent most of his years living in Wolverhampton. He has held …[Read More]
Arts Award Supporter Information
Ledbury Poetry Festival celebrates over two decades as nation’s pre-eminent poetry festival, with award winning programmes in the community and schools. The Festival has been awarded “Best Community Festival” by …[Read More]
Community Poetry Workshops – 2020 dates!
Feeling inspired? Feel like to learning to express yourself better? Get your poetry muscles flexing at these wonderful events, ALL of them are FREE to attend so that income is …[Read More]
WINNER: BEST COMMUNITY FESTIVAL
WINNER: BEST COMMUNITY FESTIVAL in VISIT HEREFORDSHIRE AWARDS ! ‘It is a brilliant festival in a lovely town and I recommend it highly, an absolute must for anyone who believes …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with Roz Goddard 6th March
In the Panelled Room of The Masters House, 7pm – 9pm Tuesday 6th March Roz Goddard will read from a new pamphlet Spill published by Flarestack Press. Previously she published …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with Adam Horovitz 6th Feb
Tuesday 6th Feb 2018. 7pm – 9pm The Panelled Room in The Master’s House, £5 (on the door) Do you want to discover more about poetry? Have you been looking for …[Read More]
Festival Annual Report is out!
Read all about Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2017. record audiences! fantastic international programme everything the festival does in schools and the community massive community involvement …and much much more. A …[Read More]
Event Recommendations! Top Tips from the Team!
Festival News! Malika’s Kitchen Saturday 8 July Malika’s Poetry Kitchen cooks up a feast of poetry on Saturday 8 July. Featuring a delectable array of contemporary and spoken word poets …[Read More]
Air Poems in the Key of Voice – rich, immersive, spine-tingling!
Air Poems in the Key of Voice is a unique and innovative work of translation and performance: “The piece will offer hearing audiences something of the rich, immersive, spine-tingling experience …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis poet Nikolina Andova from Macedonia
Versopolis is a celebration of emerging European poets on Sunday 9 July at 4.15pm – 5.30pm in The Market Theatre. It is FREE to attend. This is the third year …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis poet Helen Mort
Versopolis is a celebration of Emerging European Poets. This year the event, on Sunday 9 July, will feature Tiziano Fratus (Italy), Charlotte Van den Broeck (Belgium), Nikolina Andova (Macedonia), Veronika …[Read More]
Festival Events Celebrate D/deaf and Disabled Poets
Stairs & Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back is the first major UK anthology of poetry and essays from D/deaf and disabled writers, published by Nine Arches Press. Join …[Read More]
Ledbury Poetry Salon with Alison Brackenbury
Tuesday 6 June, 7pm – 9pm, The Master’s House in Ledbury Tickets £5 (includes a glass of wine) ‘Alison Brackenbury loves, lives, hymns and rhymes the natural world and its …[Read More]
Fantastic Beasts – Performance
First reading of Fantastic Beast poems at Hereford River Carnival on Saturday 29 April. Thanks to all the poets who came along to read their poems – Peter Wyton, Simon …[Read More]
Next Ledbury Poetry Salon – Gregory Leadbetter
Ledbury Poetry Salon with Gregory Leadbetter Tuesday 16 May This Salon will take place at Hellens Manor in Much Marcle 7pm – 9pm Tickets £5 to include a glass of …[Read More]
Ledbury Residential – Book your place
Refreshing the Word, with Fiona Sampson and David Harsent Monday 26 June – Thursday 29 June 2017 £450 (includes fully catered accommodation for 3 nights) Poetry expresses the self, captures …[Read More]
Fantastic Beasts – Call for Poems
Herefordshire is a county of fantastic beasts and mythical creatures: The Dragon of Mordiford, the ‘enormous panther’ supposedly spotted near Ross on Wye, the Kilpeck Basilik. Also the minotaur, unicorn …[Read More]
HWAET! 20 Years Of Ledbury Poetry Festival
Ledbury has brought together poets from all over the world in the past 20 years and the anthology, edited by Mark Fisher and published by Bloodaxe Books, is a distillation of the …[Read More]
Book of Job – The Musical
I don’t like musicals, and I’m not that keen on religion, either, so when I was dragged along to see The Book of Job – the Musical, it was very …[Read More]
Dinah Prentice Exhibition at The Feathers
Dinah Prentice will be showing her print / prose / poems during the Ledbury Poetry Festival at The Feathers Hotel “I found myself explaining the sources and repercussions that accompany …[Read More]
Recordings now online
We are recording many of the events and some of those from Day 1 and Day 2 are now available as podcasts. Go to http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/series/festival-2016/ to listen to them or use the …[Read More]
Poetry as Protest
‘Poetry as Protest’ – LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL and English PEN Throughout this year’s Ledbury Poetry Festival (1-10 July), twenty-five poets will be taking part in ‘Poetry as Protest’, a joint initiative …[Read More]
Conversation with Versopolis poet Judith Nika Pfeifer
If you could write poetry in another language, what would it be and why? I like the idea of writing a poem in a new language one that everyone immediately …[Read More]
Interview with Goran Colakhodžic
If you could write poetry in another language, what would it be and why? I actually do write in another language – English – or rather, I used to. While …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis poet Samantha Barendson
Samantha Barendson from France is appearing in Versopolis: A Celebration of Emerging European Poets on Saturday 2 July. She will also give a 20 minute event on Sunday 3 July. Both …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis poet Kim Moore
Kim Moore will read at Versopolis: A Celebration of European Poets on Saturday 2 July If you could write poetry in another language, what would it be and why? I …[Read More]
Last Poetry Salon Before the Festival with Cliff Yates!
Ledbury Poetry Salon with featured poet Cliff Yates on Wednesday 8 June at 7pm – 9pm, the Panelled Room, The Master’s House in Ledbury. Tickets £5 on the door, to include …[Read More]
Walking on Stilts: Four Days at the European Poet of Freedom Festival, Gdansk by Jonathan Edwards
Walking on Stilts: Four Days at the European Poet of Freedom Festival, Gdansk by Jonathan Edwards It’s difficult to walk on stilts. It’s difficult to walk on stilts on cobblestones. …[Read More]
Poetry Salon and Open Mic – Tuesday 10 May
Yvonne Green is the featured poet at the next Poetry Salon on Tuesday 10 May, 7pm – 9pm, the Panelled Room in The Master’s House in Ledbury. Her new collection …[Read More]
Versopolis poet Adam Horovitz reports back from Croatia
Versopolis poet Adam Horovitz reports back from Croatia where he appeared in the poetry festival Goranovo Prolje?e (Goran’s Spring): Imagine On the Road repurposed as a brief European bus tour, …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with David Clarke – Tuesday 12 April
Ledbury Poetry Salon with Featured Poet David Clarke and the Open Mic! Tuesday 12 April 7pm – 9pm £5 to include a glass of Poetry Gold cider! No need to …[Read More]
Poetry Salon with Myra Connell on Tuesday 8 March
Poetry Salon with Myra Connell and Open Mic: Tuesday 8 March and 7pm – 9pm, The Panelled Room in The Master’s House Ledbury, Tickets £5 to include a glass of …[Read More]
Poetry Salon Tuesday 9 February with Maitreyabandhu
Poetry Salon, Tuesday 9 February featuring Maitreyabandhu and our friendly and supportive open mic session! 7pm – 9pm, Ledbury Master’s House in the Panelled Room. Just come along! £5 including …[Read More]
Community Programme Sessions
Ledbury Poetry Festival poet Brenda Reed-Brown is commencing sessions at St Michael’s Hospice, Hereford for day care patients. Brenda is also resuming her therapeutic work with patients in the Living …[Read More]
14.01.2016 – Worldwide Reading of selected poems and other texts in support of Ashraf Fayadh
On 14 January 2016 – Ledbury Poetry Festival is participating in a Worldwide Reading of selected poems and other texts in support of Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian poet who has …[Read More]
Voice Coaching Workshop 2016
We’ve just heard news we have funding for this workshop in 2016. See New Writers’ Page for details
2016 Sneak Preview
The programme is already looking very exciting for what will be the twentieth anniversary of the Ledbury Poetry Festival! We are delighted to announce that Carol Ann Duffy will return on Saturday …[Read More]
Poetry By Heart
“Taking a poem into your heart makes it part of you. Saying a poem aloud makes you part of its life in the world. This is a rich and nourishing …[Read More]
Damian Walford Davies – Poetry Salon
Talking Poetry Poetry Salon with Damian Walford Davies Tuesday 10 November A final Poetry Salon for 2015. The first part of the evening will involve a reading from Judas and …[Read More]
New Community Programme Sessions Leominster
Poet and story teller Carol Florence has commenced new sessions at Grange Court, Leominster. Visit Community Page for details
Ledbury Talking Poetry
These are the first of what we hope will become monthly ‘poetry salons’. The first part of the evening will involve a reading and conversation with a featured poet. The …[Read More]
Women editors shine as small, independent presses punch above their weight
It is no longer the ‘holy grail’ for aspiring poets to be published by the five ‘big names’ in poetry publishing – such as Carcanet, Faber, Picador, Cape and Bloodaxe. …[Read More]
Tadeusz Dabrowski- Review of Black Square by Cristina Florescu
Tadeusz Dabrowski’s book, Black Square, is a very personal collection of poems where issues about identity, relationships and human emotions surface in a free verse filled with humour, sarcasm and …[Read More]
Interview with Gill McEvoy by Christina Florescu
After Gill McEvoy’s 20 minute event Christina Florescu, who is one of the Festival interns from the University of Worcester, interviewed her: Your pamphlet, The First Telling, deals with quite …[Read More]
Listen again to a favourite event
Recordings of many of the Ledbury Poetry Festival events are now available to listen to on this website. Look for the link to Audio Highlights 2015. Recordings should play on …[Read More]
Versopolis: A Celebration of Emerging European Poets
With our Versopolis celebration of emerging European poets happening tomorrow, we chatted with Adam Horovitz: 1) If you could write poetry in another language, what would it be and why? …[Read More]
Festival launched in sultry summer weather
Under sunny skies and balmy conditions, Ledbury Poetry Festival 2015 gets off to a great start in the courtyard at the newly restored Master’s House.
Poetry as Protest
English PEN and Ledbury Poetry Festival join forces to support persecuted poets On Sunday 5 July, PEN and LPF are also hosting a special discussion on poets, poetry, protest and …[Read More]
Celebrating Words!
Continuing our celebration of words! Words we never want to lose: Dr. Rowan Williams says, ‘I’d propose ‘translucent’ – not just for its meaning but because it has one of …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis Poet Meirion Jordan
Interview with Meirion Jordan who is appearing in our Versopolis Celebration of Emerging European Pets event on Sunday 5 July: 1) If you could write poetry in another language, what …[Read More]
Conversation with Eleanor Rees
Coffee-break chat with Eleanor Rees, who is appearing at the Festival with Mona Arshi and Sarah Corbett on Monday 6 July in an event celebrating the launch of Pavilion Poetry, …[Read More]
George Szirtes to appear alongside Jo Bell and Chris McCabe
The Festival is excited to announce that George Szirtes will now appear alongside Jo Bell and Chris McCabe in the opening event at 6pm – 7pm on Friday 3 July. …[Read More]
Interview with Versopolis poet Liz Berry
Versopolis is a celebration of emerging European poets. In the first of a series of Versopolis inspired interviews we chatted with poet Liz Berry: 1) If you could write poetry …[Read More]
Spoken Word Poetry Show with Mark Gwynne Jones and Mamta Sagar
England’s Peak District meets India’s Karnataka region: Mamta Sagar Mark Gwynne Jones
Extra event with poet Pele Cox
Pele Cox will read from her new autobiographical collection The Mistress Account on Saturday 11 July at 7.15pm – 7.35pm in The Panelled Room in The Master’s House. Pele is …[Read More]
Herefordshire Libraries have some great poetry events in March
Thursday 26 March – Here There and Everywhere – Offa’s Press An entertaining hour at Leominster Library with some of the most popular poets from Offa’s Press. Dave Reeves, Simon …[Read More]
Jonathan Edwards Ledbury Poetry Competition winner 2014 Costa Book Awards Winner
Jonathan Edwards, 2014 Ledbury Poetry Competition winner for ‘Servant Minding a Seat for his Master Before a Performance of The Rivals, Covent Garden Theatre, 1775’. Judged by Ian McMillan. Excited …[Read More]
Joelle Taylor – poet in residence for three Herefordshire high schools
Identity is the theme of a series of writing and performance workshops for pupils at Aconbury Centre, St David’s Centre in Hereford and John Masefield High School in Ledbury in …[Read More]
New Writers’ Programme – Versopolis
Versopolis: Promoting and translating emerging poets in partnership with 10 other European Festivals This is a European poetry platform that creates new opportunities for emerging European poets and is supported …[Read More]
Captive
This high energy dance piece by Motionhouse, a world class dance company, is happening at Ledbury Recreation Ground on Saturday 12 July at 12 noon and 2.30pm – don’t miss …[Read More]
The Poetry Orchard
Thanks to Paul Henry our Herefordshire Poet in Residence for this wonderful idea. He has filled this barrel with the names of some Herefordshire apples. If you’d like to add your …[Read More]