Ledbury Poetry Competition 2022
This year’s judge is Joelle Taylor, winner of the 2022 T.S. Eliot Prize. Joelle Taylor says ‘I’m excited to judge the Ledbury Poetry Prize and to welcome poetry that surprises, that twists, that…
Forthcoming Events at The Poetry House!
Wake Up The Wonder at The Poetry House! The Poetry Pharmacy Wednesday 20 April, Wednesday 27 April and Wednesday 4 May 11am – 4pm Visit the pop-up Poetry Pharmacy where…
Solidarity with Ukraine
Poets, Artists and Musicians Fundraiser for Ukraine in Ledbury on Saturday raised £1,575.10 for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Thanks to the poets, artists, musicians, and volunteer helpers. Thanks to…
Free Versopolis Chapbooks
Request a FREE bundle of these four Versopolis chapbooks posted straight to your door here: Versopolis with Eleni Cay (Slovakia), Volha Hapeyeva (Belarus), Ruzanna Voskanyan (Armenia) and Danae Sioziou (Greece) A…
Online Workshops with Casey Bailey
Online Workshops with Casey Bailey Performing your Poetry Friday 11 February 7pm – 9pm on Zoom. Tickets available here Suggested ticket donation £8, but for anyone on low income or…
Online Poetry Workshops led by Sara-Jane Arbury
Segments and (below) Poetry and Pictures SEGMENTS: Poetry and heritage meet in these popular workshops which use artefacts and everyday objects as starting points for poetry and discussion Meet on-line…
Tree Writing Workshop, on Zoom, led by poet Mandy Ross
Tree Writing Workshop Thursday 3 February, 7pm – 9pm on Zoom. Tickets available here Suggested ticket donation £8, but for anyone on low income or unable to pay at this…
Maps of the Imagination – Reflective mapping workshops led by artist Andrea McLean
Maps of the Imagination Greet the new year as a time to try something new and get the creative juices flowing! Maps of the Imagination workshops, led by artist Andrea…
Judges’ Comments – Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections
Judges Sandeep Parmar and Naomi Shihab Nye’s comments on the books shortlisted for the Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections: Anthony Anaxagorou’s After the Formalities combines the poet’s trained…
Sweetshop of Words – Free! Drop into the Poetry House in Ledbury!
The Sweetshop of Words is at The Poetry House in the Barrett Browning Institute, The Homend, Ledbury from 11am on Thursday 2, Friday 3 and Saturday 4 December and is…
Poetry on Platforms: Celebrating the poetic heritage of the railway line to Ledbury
Poetry on Platforms Ledbury Poetry Festival and West Midlands Railway are celebrating the poetic heritage of the railway line from Worcester Shrub Hill to Ledbury. From the group of young…
Winning Poems from the 2021 Ledbury Poetry Competition
Winning Poem Evolution of a brother gone quiet by Jess Murrain driving into accidents he is the boy who fell from a building site down he died to the sound…
Ledbury Poetry Competition 2021 Winners
Thank you to judge, Anthony Anaxagorou for reading over 3,000 poems with such care. The winning poems are: Adults: 1st Prize ‘Evolution of a brother gone quiet’ by Jess Murrain…
Interview with Claudine Toutoungi – Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections
Conversation with Claudine Toutoungi, who is the winner of the Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections for Two Tongues, published by Carcanet. The judges announced Claudine as the winner…
Online Reading Group
We will read and chat about the books shortlisted for the Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections and at the end of our final session, we will select our…
Prize Giving Ceremony – Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections
Prize Ceremony on Tuesday 7 December, 7.30pm – 9.30pm, on Zoom. Reserve free tickets here: Prize Ceremony Tickets Ledbury Poetry Festival is excited to announce the shortlist for the 2021…
Work with Us! Job Opportunities
FESTIVAL PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATOR £20,000 pro rata – 3 days per week Applications are invited for the post of Festival Production Administrator. The successful applicant will have some experience in arts…
Volunteer Get-together!
Volunteers’ Gathering You can fill in the form below and email to director@poetry-festival.co.uk 2021 Volunteers’ form We have missed our volunteers at the last two editions of Ledbury Poetry Festival.…
Poetry School Seminar in Ledbury, Led by Angela France
The Poetry School and Ledbury Poetry Festival presents: A New Angela France Ledbury Seminar New opportunity for experience writers. Intimate monthly seminars with Angela France at the Barrett Browning Institute…
Asemic Writing Workshop
Autumn Opportunities! Drawing, Asemic Writing and the Temptation of Translation A two-part creative workshop about not knowing led by artist Harriet Carter and writer/researcher/translator Ricarda Vidal “A line goes out…
Coffee mornings and patch making sessions
Invitation to Coat of Hopes Coffee Mornings and Patch Making sessions at Ledbury’s Barrett Browning Institute. Saturday 25 September – Friday 1 October, at 11am each morning. Pick a morning…
LPF2021 Programme Preview!
The 2021 Festival Programme is here! Open up for a sneak peek at the first ever Ledbury hybrid festival, combining online and in-person events! Please note booking is not open…
Festival extras! Pop-ups, installations, community, family events!
Festival extras! Pop-up happenings, installations and family events! Sweetshop of Words – Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July, Barrett Browning Institute, 11am – 4pm, Free Sally Crabtree has been delighting audiences around the world with her…
Friday 2 July
Friday 2 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Festival Launch including a special pre-recorded reading and conversation with…
Saturday 3 July
Saturday 3 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. One to Ones with Robert Selby 10am – 12noon, Zoom,…
Sunday 4 July
Sunday 4 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. John Challis workshop: Appearances and Excavations 10am – 12noon,…
Monday 5 July
Monday 5 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Workshop with Martina Evans: Notorious 10am – 12 noon, Zoom,…
Tuesday 6 July
Tuesday 6 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Workshop with Phoebe Stuckes 10am – 12noon, Zoom, £20, Tickets…
Wednesday 7 July
Wednesday 7 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Ledbury Poetry Festival Community Programme presents Sharing Showcase hosted by…
Thursday 8 July
Thursday 8 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Workshop with Ruth Stacey: A Symbolist Dream 2pm – 4pm,…
Friday 9 July
Friday 9 July Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Workshop with Rosalind Hudis: Alchemy – how to turn science into…
Saturday 10 July
Saturday 10 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Spellwright, Market House, 10am – 4pm, Free What would make…
Sunday 11 July
Sunday 11 July 2021 Online events will be available for ticket holders to access for two weeks after they finish. Workshop with Jamie Thrasivoulou: Exiting the safe space and moving…
At A Glance
Ledbury Poetry Festival, 2 – 11 July 2021 At a Glance Programme pdf available HERE For the duration of the Festival: ledbury.poetrypin.info is an interactive poetry trail in and around…
What are your hopes for the Barrett Browning Institute?
Barrett Browning Institute What are your hopes for Ledbury’s Barrett Browning Institute (The Clock Tower)? Find out more here Any questions? Please do email Chloe Garner, director@poetry-festival.co.uk
Ley Hunt: Ways, Lines and Tracks
Lines, tracks, ancient locations, spiritual sites. Send us your poems to celebrate 100 years of Ley Lines! Invented in Herefordshire! Alfred Watkins – Arthur’s Stone The idea for these invisible…
Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition 2021
The 2021 Ledbury Poetry Competition is now closed. Look out for the winners’ announcement! Picture Credit: Alessandro Furchino Capria JUDGE: Anthony Anaxagorou CLOSING DATE: Thursday 15 July 2021 at 5pm…
Lockdown Reads
What are you reading in these grey days? Please share, using the form below. Perhaps, like me, you are grabbing any opportunity to dive under a blanket, with a book…
Versopolis Chapbooks
Versopolis is a European poetry platform that creates opportunities for emerging European poets. Ledbury Poetry Festival is proud to be a founder member of this platform. Find out more at…
19 New Mentees Join Ledbury Poetry Critics Network
Ledbury Poetry Critics announces its third and largest intake of new mentees, growing from eleven to thirty members. In 2017, in collaboration with Ledbury Poetry Festival, the Ledbury Poetry Critics…
Festival Online Recordings
Ledbury Poetry Festival Online 4th – 5th July 2020 The recordings have now expired – we’re sorry you missed them but look out for news about Ledbury Poetry Festival in…
Donate!
Photo credit @PaulLigas Donate! Ledbury Poetry Festival is a charitable organisation and donations help us to keep the cost of tickets to a minimum. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.…
Ledbury Under 18’s Poetry Competition 2020
Poetry Competition for Young People (12 – 17 years) and Children (11 years and under) Entry has now closed. You may not be aware that the annual Ledbury Poetry Festival…
Lockdown Poems
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash Thank you to everyone who has submitted Lockdown poems. On Sunday 5 July, at 12.30pm – 1.30pm, there was a Poetry of the Lockdown…
Links and Resources for Aspiring Writers
Links and Resources for Aspiring Writers Don’t forget to enter any poems you write to Ledbury Poetry Competition: https://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/ledbury-poetry-competition/ Deadline – 5pm, 15 July 2021 Judge – Anthony Anaxagorou https://www.writingwestmidlands.org/…
Pictures and Poetry Online Transcripts
Pictures and Poetry In these workshops, we use artworks as the inspiration for writing ekphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by pictures). They are run in partnership with Hereford Mind, Heffernan House,…
Transcripts of Online Community Poetry Workshops
Segments and Poetry and Pictures online Workshops Welcome to Ledbury Poetry Festival’s Community Programme Poetry Workshops! We offer two a month: Segments, and Poetry and Pictures. Make yourself a cup…
Segments March Workshop
This is the Segments workshop which would have taken place on Wednesday 18th March in Ledbury’s Burgage Hall The Festival is very grateful to practitioner Sara-Jane Arbury for sharing her…
Upload Your Poetry of The Woods
Ledbury Poetry Festival is partnering with Queenswood Country Park to launch our “Poetry of the Woods” on-line poetry submission. We are calling for your poems on your experiences with woods…
2020 Ledbury Poetry Competition launches!
LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL’S INFLUENTIAL INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION IS OPEN FOR ENTRIES! JUDGE: LIZ BERRY CLOSING DATE: Thursday 16 July 2020 FIRST PRIZE: £1000, a residential course at Ty Newydd Writing…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
FREE Voice Coaching Workshop for poets!
LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL FULLY FUNDED LINKLATER METHOD VOICE COACHING RESIDENTIAL WORKSHOP FOR NEW POETS DATES: 5 – 8 MAY 2020 HELLENS MANOR, MUCH MARCLE NR LEDBURY, HEREFORDSHIRE, HR8 2LY…
Become a Festival Intern! Deadline 17 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,…
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…
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…
Troubadour of The Hills!
Troubadour of the Hills, Jean Atkin was commissioned to write One uncertain history of the Malverns by Ledbury Poetry Festival and Malvern Hills AONB. Please feel free to add your…
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…
Young Poet in Residence Eloise Unerman
Hear Ledbury, a poem by Eloise Unerman, Ledbury Poetry Festival Young Poet in Residence https://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Ledbury-Eloise-Unerman.mp3 As winner of the Young Person’s category of the Ledbury Poetry…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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: Events Table The quickest way to book tickets using a…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Community Poetry Workshops – 2021 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
2018 Festival Press Release!
LEDBURY POETRY FESTIVAL 2018 Alexis Taylor, Benjamin Zephaniah, Michael Palin, Sabrina Mahfouz, Chris Difford and Jackie Kay join international cast of poets and musicians for the UK’s biggest and award-winning…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…