Festival packs a punch with poetry
A festival celebrating poetry through readings, workshops and performances takes place in Southwell over five days.
The regular event runs from Wednesday to a week on Sunday in Southwell Library.
One of the highlights is Just A Moment, a performance combining comedy, poetry and film by Mark Gwynne Jones on July 19.
Mark, the star of BBC Radio 4’s Wondermentalist Cabaret, will be telling the audience that only this particular moment exists.
He said: “From the man facing tough, stylistic decisions in the local barber’s shop, to the man who hears snooker commentary even when the television is off, smashed and burnt in the garden, the truth of life is that much of it doesn’t exist. Much of it is pure fantasy.”
Mark’s new solo show explores such things, and in the course of a wildly comic hour, he reveals how people’s thoughts shape their sense of reality.
“It’s something I became aware of when quite young,” he said. “Someone gave me a book on meditation. With practice I discovered quietening my thoughts dissolved anxiety.
“It made me realise how powerful our thoughts and words are and how flexible our sense of reality is. It’s the thing that made me want to write.”
The show draws on Mark’s time as resident poet in four of London’s central parks, his disastrous attempt to entertain 2,000 bikers with poetry at the World Superbike Championships and how he stood in for an astronaut in front of 500 severely disappointed teenagers. His observations reveal the tragic-comedy of being human.
Other highlights are Land, Sea And Air, an evening of pomp and circumstance featuring the Newark and Sherwood Brass Band and friends of the library on July 20 at 7pm; Tea And Cake with Gillian Clarke, a balm for the soul and stimulation for the intellect on July 21 at 4.30pm; and a performance of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood on July 21 at 7pm.
Journalist and ITV News newscaster Nina Hossain is a special guest at the festival. She will interview former Derbyshire poet laureate Cathy Grindrod as part of Desert Island Poetry on July 18.
The event will take the format of a Desert Island Discs-style interview, where Cathy will talk about her favourite poems, read extracts and Nina will explore why she feels so strongly about them.
Nina, who lives near Southwell with her family said: “Events such as the Southwell Library Poetry Festival are very important.
“Any event which enhances that developed role of the library, attracting different people, of all ages, from all backgrounds, and from outside the county needs to be encouraged and supported.”
Tickets for the festival, run by Nottinghamshire County Council, are available from the library on 01636 812148.