3rd to 12th July 2020
Many of the events at Ledbury Poetry Festival are recorded so that those of you who cannot get to Ledbury are able to experience some the atmosphere of our annual festival.
Not all events are recorded, either for copyright or technical reasons, but about half of the festival events can be heard here, although, of course, you don’t get the full visual experience. Perhaps listening to these recordings will encourage you to try and attend in July 2019?
This event showcases poets at all stages of their development. Starting with John Masefield High School pupils. Then Foyle Young Poets Ankita Saxena, Jade Cuttle and Charlotte Wetton. Plus renowned …[Read More]
One of Scotland’s most celebrated writers, reading and talking about her new collection Bantam. ‘Jackie Kay depicts a world of grief, joy, love and humour in the sparest terms’ (The Guardian). …[Read More]
Two supreme performers and a relaxed Friday night atmosphere! ‘Joelle Taylor’s a shape-shifter, mythmaker, linguistic risk-taker, poetical activist, surrealist with a raised fist’ (Patience Agbabi). Sabrina Mahfouz is ‘in quite …[Read More]
Showcasing an anthology in which poets and novelists retell the stories of asylum seekers who have suffered at the hands of Britain’s policy of ‘indefinite detention’. In Refugee Tales, poets …[Read More]
Expect lots of discussion around class, politics, poetry and the age of austerity and its general effect on the arts, and also barriers to participation. What is the role of …[Read More]
Reading and discussion. As part of a fifty year anniversary and celebration, this anthology gathers poets from both sides of the Atlantic to address the challenges set out by Dr …[Read More]
Hosted by Neil Astley, Editor of Bloodaxe Books, this event will celebrate Helen Dunmore’s life, work and particularly her poetry. Helen Dunmore was a great supporter of Ledbury Poetry Festival, …[Read More]
Join the 2017 Ledbury International Poetry Competition Winners as they read their winning poems! These are the freshest voices of their generation. LPFPC has been instrumental in launching many poets’ …[Read More]
Featuring stories about his remarkable life, including his friendship with Nelson Mandela, his musical career with The Wailers, his political campaigns and how he became one of Britain’s most popular …[Read More]
Lachlan MacKinnon’s Doves is a ‘magnificent collection, suffused with gentle wisdom and studded with moments of quiet revelation’ (Scotsman). American poet Linda Gregerson ‘produces lyrical poems informed by her expansive reading …[Read More]
T.S.Eliot Prize shortlisted, Caroline Bird’s ‘poems burst with linguistic energy’ (TLS). ‘Nia Davies quietly dismembers the world around her with a gleeful irreverence and quirky humour’ (Geraldine Monk). Bodies. Rhythms. …[Read More]
Step into the betwixt and between time of ritual to celebrate a new issue of Poetry Wales. Nisha Ramayya invokes a tantric poetics, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett takes a transformative wild swim …[Read More]
The magical Liz Berry’s new pamphlet is The Republic of Motherhood. Her first book of poems, Black Country (Chatto 2014) described as a ‘sooty, soaring hymn top her native West …[Read More]
Sara-Jane Arbury introduces a number of poets from the community who read their poems in front of an audience in The Burgage Hall. Some of these poets have never performed …[Read More]
As Herefordshire Mind celebrates its 40th Birthday, join us to reflect but, more importantly, look forward to how we should consider mental health in the 21st Century. With a rise …[Read More]
Sarah Churchwell is Professorial Fellow in American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She is the author of …[Read More]
Wallace Stevens: The Whole Harmonium – ‘The belief in poetry is a magnificent fury, or it is nothing’ – Wallace Stevens. See also events 33. 34. and 35. A day …[Read More]
Maitreyabandhu hosts a panel with Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics, Maryam Hessavi, Srishti Krishnamoorthy-Cavell and Dzifa Benson, discussing Wallace Stevens’ reputation as a poet, and as a man. Includes discussion and …[Read More]
‘Stevens is a vital part of the American mythology’ – Harold Bloom Part of Wallace Stevens: The Whole Harmonium, a day bringing to life the poetry of Wallace Stevens. The …[Read More]
Love Songs of WW3 is a tribute to Adrian Mitchell performed by comedian, actor, writer and television presenter Michael Palin, Adrian Mitchell’s daughter Sasha Mitchell, as well as by Peter …[Read More]
Talk focused on the poem, In Praise of Limestone, exploring the reasons why such a landscape came to be described by Auden as ‘sacred’. ‘When I try to imagine a …[Read More]
Matthew Clegg offers a personal and creative appreciation of the poetry of Derek Walcott – one of the most respected poets to emerge from the Caribbean, and a recipient of the …[Read More]
Chris Difford is co-founder of Squeeze, one of Britain’s best loved bands famous for their hit songs “Cool For Cats”, “Up The Junction”, “Another Nail In My Heart”, “Is This Love” …[Read More]
Including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, three Dymock poets, Eleanor Farjeon, Vera Brittain, Carola Oman and the American, Alan Seeger. The poems are read by Marilyn Birks and Jake Herbst. (Unfortunately the …[Read More]
An incredible opportunity to hear and witness a selection of young people’s poetry. Written by young people from SHYPP (Supported Housing for Young People Project) as part of the Festival’s …[Read More]
This year’s winners Dom Bury, Mary Jean Chan and Momtaza Mehri read alongside two poetry greats from the competition’s heritage Jo Shapcott and Pascale Petit. Plus short discussion and Q&A. …[Read More]
Join Pascale Petit, Kim Moore and Deborah Alma with Roz Goddard, in conversation and reading from #MeToo – rallying against sexual assault and harassment: A women’s poetry anthology – edited …[Read More]
The Eric Gregory Awards consistently identify some of the best young poets including Sarah Howe, Andrew McMillan and many of the poets who headline the Festival. Come and hear this …[Read More]
An entertaining poetry salon in which poet Jill Abram is in conversation with Paul Henry, Kim Moore and Jonathan Edwards from Seren Press who discuss and read some of their poetry. …[Read More]
Polly Clark’s novel Larchfield is inspired in part by WH Auden’s time teaching at Larchfield Academy and includes her own poetry. Reading and discussion event.
Sinéad Morrisey reads poetry from her Forward winning collection On Balance and chat about her poetry and writing life with Virago founder and editor Ursula Owen. On Balance ‘is a …[Read More]
‘A set of rollicking dispatches from a Britain rarely ever heard from except in the disparaging tones of others. Peter Raynard details the toll this exacts on all of us …[Read More]
How do poetry reviews reflect diversity and the value of poetry in society? Who are they written for? Panel discussion with Sandeep Parmar, Telegraph poetry critic Tristram Fane Saunders and two Ledbury Emerging …[Read More]
Colombian poet George Mario Angel Quintero and translator and editor of The Other Tiger, Recent Poetry from Latin America, Richard Gwynn take a whirlwind tour of South American poetry. Discussion …[Read More]
In early 2018, Joined Up Heritage commissioned Sara-Jane Arbury to write poems inspired by eight Ledbury heritage sites using words found within the buildings themselves, and from First World War …[Read More]
With winner Sandeep Parmar and shortlisted poets Judy Brown, Emma Hammond, John McCullough and John Clegg. Find out more about each poet below. For more information about the prize, see …[Read More]
The British stage and screen actor, director and writer Michael Pennington in conversation with Mark Fisher and with Prue Skene reading the selected poems.
Join Modern Poetry in Translation’s editor Clare Pollard to celebrate the summer’s LGBTQ focus. With Mary Jean Chan discussing queerness and the concept of ‘Playtime’; Richard Scott reading versions of …[Read More]
Henry Normal, co-writer of The Royle Family and other comedy hits, presents his unique brand of poetry, stories and humour as heard on BBC Radio 4. Henry Normal’s poetry collections include The …[Read More]
Hosted by Bloodaxe Books editor Neil Astley. Marie Howe’s poetry is ‘luminous, intense, and eloquent, rooted in an abundant inner life’ (Stanley Kunitz). Howe’s latest collection is Magdalene and Jericho Brown’s …[Read More]
Translators Uilleam Blacker and Iryna Shuvalova are en garde to fight a poetry translation duel at Ledbury Festival 2018. Uilleam and Iryna discuss their different translations of a single poem …[Read More]
Jan Wagner is one of the most important German-language poets of the younger generation. Poetry readings and discussion with his award-winning translator Iain Galbraith. Jan Wagner was born in Hamburg …[Read More]
A grand finale of readings by Versopolis poets Kateryna Kalytko (Ukraine), Tomica Bajsic (Croatia), Michal Sobol (Poland), Lou Raoul (France/Brittany) and UK poets for 2018 Sasha Dugdale, Sandeep Parmar and Mererid Hopwood …[Read More]