The sun shone on Wenlock Poetry Festival for the third year running and once again the town buzzed with activity as poets, including the three Laureates Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead and Gillian Clarke and a host of other nationally acclaimed poets, gave readings and performances and led workshops.
There was something for everyone: Saturday saw a raft of children’s events, Sunday offered a whole day of performance poetry, including a Poetry Jukebox, and in the Priory Hall yard was a vintage ambulance complete with the Emergency Poet and her Nurse Verse, where poems were given on prescription – one little boy was told to read his poem at least twice a day ‘with chocolate’!
On the Church Green a huge knitted poem dominated the sky-line – at 5 metres high and wide, it is probably the biggest knitted poem in the world – and was created for the festival by knitters from as far away as Australia! Travis Perkins generously built a huge wooden scaffold for the poem, which was ceremoniously signed by the Poet Laureate herself.
Anna Dreda, founder of the festival, said it had been a tremendous success and thanked everyone in the town for their support. Anyone interested in helping with next year’s festival (5, 6, 7 April 2103) should contact the bookshop on 01952 727877.
