Welcome to Stuff. The Poetry Trust's latest news, events, podcasts and publications.

The Poetry Trust presents ‘An Evening with Seamus Heaney’

The Poetry Prom, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, 26 August, 7.30pm

We’re delighted and enormously privileged to announce that Seamus Heaney - described by The Guardian as the ‘greatest poet of our age’ - will appear at the 8th Poetry Prom this summer.

Our annual Poetry Prom, presented in partnership with Aldeburgh Music, is one of the UK’s largest celebrations of live poetry, attracting audiences of nearly 800.

The first half will feature Heaney ‘in conversation’ with Michael Laskey, founder of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and fellow poet. The Nobel Laureate will be invited to reflect on a writing career of global significance spanning over forty years. And after the interval, Heaney will introduce and read a wide selection of his work including poems from his new Faber collection Human Chain (published early September but advance copies to be available on the night).

General booking opens 4 June and we strongly recommend getting your tickets early for what’s likely to be a sell-out evening and one of those ‘I was there’ memorable occasions.

Sponsored by Fairweather Stephenson & Co

Booking
Tickets £16, £13, £10, Prom £6
Tel: 01728 687110, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.aldeburgh.co.uk

 

Poetry @ The Pumphouse, Aldeburgh

...and you don’t need to wait until August for the next dose of outstanding live poetry in Suffolk (and another great Poetry Trust / Aldeburgh Music partnership). Join us at the atmospheric Pumphouse this June, where the ale flows freely and we’ll be presenting some exceptional young ‘page’ and ‘stage’ poetic talents during the Aldeburgh (music) Festival.

Faber New Poets Friday 18 June at 6pm, £5
Joe Dunthorne, Annie Katchinska, Sam Riviere, Tom Warner

A showcase reading by the four young writers selected, following a nationwide search, for this year’s prestigious and highly competitive Faber New Poets Programme. A quartet of unmissable and distinctive new voices. Supported by Faber

Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You  Friday 25 June at 6.30pm, £5
Written and performed by Molly Naylor

An Edinburgh preview of Molly Naylor’s new one-woman show mixing poetry, comedy and storytelling. Molly moves to London, falls in love, her pockets are empty but her heart is full. Then she finds herself on one of the trains blown up on 7/7. In seconds, her life and London are thrown into the chaos of fallibility…
Supported by Escalator East to Edinburgh

Booking (for both events)
Tel: 01728 687110, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), www.aldeburgh.co.uk

 

Short Cuts Cabaret & Open Mic Night

Friday 21 May 2010, The Cut, Halesworth, 7.30pm

Dean Parkin hosts another instalment of Suffolk’s cult-status cabaret night, welcoming star guest Tim Turnbull, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival’s writer-in-residence in 2006 and described as a ‘future poet laureate’ by The Guardian. Turnbull’s anarchic and funny poetry combined with his dynamic stage presence should guarantee a lively night out. Stand-up poets Andrea Porter and Yanny Mac will also be making special appearances. And of course the evening will also feature plenty of (good, bad but never indifferent) Open Mic talent. Boogie-woogie (but classically-trained) maestro Maurice Horhut will be at the piano to provide accompaniment to anyone in need. Food and drink is available at The Cut, contemporary arts venue, café & bar.
To apply for a performance slot (strictly 3 minutes), contact Dean on 01986 835950 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tickets £5, Call The Cut Box office on 0845 6732123
Support by The Co-op Community Fund

 

Suffolk Young Poets Competition 2010

The Suffolk Young Poets Competition is one of the largest regional competitions championing young writing talent: over 20,000 four to eighteen year olds have taken part since it began in 1989. We’ll soon be launching the 2010 competition and inviting young people to submit their poems by 31 July 2010. If you’re a Suffolk based teacher (or know someone who is) and you’d like an information pack - including a free ‘Poetry Toolkit’ for teaching poetry in the classroom - then do get in touch. Or perhaps you’re a parent, grandparent, uncle or aunt with some younger generation budding poets in your family…? Poems can be entered by individuals as well as by schools - so do get in touch and help us get more entries than ever this year. Email Katie: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 01986 835950.

 

Festivals Suffolk launched

A new campaign has been launched promoting Suffolk as the Festival capital of the UK. We’re delighted that the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival has been selected as one of the nine showcase Festivals, alongside events such as: Pulse, HighTide and Latitude. The campaign launched at The Cut Arts Centre and included a dazzling performance by our very own Dean Parkin, giving a sneak preview of his Edinburgh show. More information

 

An Evening with Andrew Motion and Les Murray

Norwich Playhouse, Tuesday 18 May, 7.30pm - 9pm

The Poetry Trust whole-heartedly recommends spending an evening in the illustrious company of two poets from opposite ends of the globe - Australian Les Murray and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion.

This event is presented by the exceptional poetry magazine The Rialto (celebrating 25 years of publication) in partnership with Writers’ Centre Norwich as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Enjoy readings, conversation and questions from the audience with two of the most important English-language poets of our time.

Les Murray - Australia’s premier poet and a writer of global stature, winner of the T S Eliot Prize, a Queens Gold Medal for Poetry (on the recommendation of Ted Hughes) and tipped by The Guardian for a Nobel Prize. With his genius for inclusion, Murray’s poems are characterised by a combative wit, an inexhaustible curiosity and great generosity of spirit.

Andrew Motion - As Poet Laureate 1999-2009, Andrew Motion transformed the role and galvanised interest in contemporary poetry from press and public alike. Described as a ‘beautiful lyrist’ by Robert Potts in The Guardian and ‘a voice unlike any other’ by Lavinia Greenlaw in The New Statesman, his lucid poems address personal and collective issues with fluency, warmth and integrity.

Tickets £10, U25s: £5
Book online or call the box office: 01603 766400

 

New date for Simon Armitage at UEA

Wednesday 9 June 2010, 7pm, Lecture Theatre 1

The extraordinarily prolific, popular and versatile writer Simon Armitage will be headlining an unmissable evening at the University of East Anglia, Norwich on Wednesday 9 June. Armitage - the best-known poet of his 1960’s-born generation - will read from his new Faber collection Seeing Stars and appear ‘in conversation’ with Lavinia Greenlaw, with time for questions from the audience. Armitage is a brilliant deliverer of his work (he held the capacity audience of 800 at our 2005 Poetry Prom absolutely spellbound) and as Kate Kelleway concluded her recent review in The Observer: “His ability to write with such rigorous playfulness is marvellous.”

This reading was originally programmed for 19 May but the date has had to be changed. All season tickets, poetry passports and individual tickets will be valid for the new date. There are still a few tickets available

Box office: 01603 508050 www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/events/

 

Other STUFF you might like…

Bridport Prize Poems Short stories. Flash fiction. Poetry prize (£5,000) judge Michael Laskey. Deadline 30 June.

Go Dutch at The Free Word Centre Awater by Martinus Nijhoff. A new translation of the most important Dutch poem of the 20th century. Poet Christopher Reid will introduce the evening. 27 May, 7pm, London

Birmingham Book Festival Spring Thing A Festival in Day Includes Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore. 29 May, 10.30am (all day), Birmingham

The Literary Consultancy The Waste Land by T S Eliot read by Roger Lloyd Pack, 3 June, 6.30pm, Clerkenwell, London

Suffolk Poetry Society, Schubertiad, An evening of Poetry with Music, 5 June, 7.30pm, Beccles, Suffolk

 

Friends of The Poetry Trust

If you like The Poetry Trust’s work and can offer a little extra support, then please become a Friend. In return for a £15 annual subscription, Friends enjoy Special Offers as well as an exclusive priority booking period for the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. As dedicated Festival audiences know all too well, Aldeburgh events frequently sell out: so being a Friend offers a real benefit. To join, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll do the rest.