This year’s annual Bridlington Poetry Festival begins, rather unusually, with an event in Beverley.
Peter and Ann Sansom, the two poets who run Sheffield-based The Poetry Business – a poetry publisher and writer development agency – will be hosting a day for poetry-lovers at The Treasure House.
This Poetry Business Reading Day is a chance to discuss brilliant contemporary poems with Peter and Ann, described by The Guardian as “the best poetry teachers in the world” and a small group of like-minded readers and writers.
In the morning, Peter and Ann will talk about some of the key poems of the 20th Century, and in the afternoon the group will talk about published poems which the participants themselves have chosen to bring along.
The day promises a range of activities in a warm and supportive atmosphere, including close reading, small group work, jigsaw poems, a novel form of translation, and a creative response or two. Participants will end the day with a new poem, too, inspired by the rich experience of a day immersing themselves in some of the best contemporary poems.
Antony Dunn, Artistic Director of Bridlington Poetry Festival, says,
“We’re delighted to start this year’s festival with a Poetry Business Reading Day. Peter and Ann are brilliant advocates for poetry, and are absolute experts at helping people through the pleasures and pitfalls of reading poems.
“It’s also brilliant that we’re hosting the event in Beverley because, although we’re very proud of our base at Sewerby Hall in Bridlington, we really do feel that we’re a festival for the whole of the East Riding.
“In future years, we’ll be presenting an increasing number of events in towns and villages around the region, reaching into more and more communities around East Yorkshire and, hopefully, encouraging them to read more, write more, and join us in Bridlington for the main festival weekend.”
Tickets are available from the Bridlington Poetry Festival website www.bridlington-poetry-festival.com or by phone on 01482 392699.
