Press
All press enquiries should be made to the Ledbury Poetry Festival Press Office:
Simon Steven
Press Office
Ledbury Poetry Festival
+44 (0) 1843 596 194 (UK)
press@poetry-festival.com
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday June 16 2009
"Poets reveal the strangest places they've 'done it'
Ledbury Poetry Festival asks participants to list the oddest spots where they've been moved by the muse. Benjamin Zephaniah did it stuck in a lift with a drag queen, Phillis Levin in a car on the side of a mountain, Patience Agbabi 20,000 feet above sea level in a spasm of guilt about her carbon footprint, and Kenneth Steven did it in his head during a sermon in church. Poets don't need a tranquil room of their own to write, the Ledbury Poetry Festival has proved, by asking this...."
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Independent newspaper, 22 May 2008
"Chloe Garner, director of the Ledbury Poetry Festival, has made an impassioned call for the appointment of a female poet laureate to redress the imbalance in the 22 male laureates chosen over three centuries. Yesterday, Ms Garner wrote a letter to the Queen, Gordon Brown, the Tory leader David Cameron, and the Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, in which she calls for the appointment of a female poet laureate when the position falls vacant next year…"
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The Guardian Guide, Saturday 27 June 2009
Event Preview by Iain Aitch.
"This celebration of verse is the largest of its kind in the UK an also the most energised, giving a real sense of poetry as an important living, contemporary literary form. Things kick off with a reading by Roger MC Gough and finish with American poet Frank Reeve, with appearances in between by Benjamin Zephaniah, Ben Okri and Ruth Padel, making it a must-see for enthusiasts. Francine Stock takes Joan Bakewell through her Desert Island Poems, while Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling revisit their links in the1960s avant-garde poetry scene. There are also readings from Alice Oswald, Michael Horovitz and Eilean Ni Chuilleanain."
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7th July 2009
Which words make you wince? by Michelle Pauli.
"What word do you hate and why?’ is the intriguing question put to a selection of poets by the Ledbury Festival."
guardian.co.uk, Friday 10th July 2009
Art Beat: Preparing for the fourth plinth by Vanessa Thorpe.
Times Online, June 26th 2009
Arc Publications, 13th July 2009
Ledbury Poetry Festival by Angela Jarman.
“We've just come back from what we think is one of the best of the UK poetry festivals -- best in terms of programme, organization, friendliness and location. We could not have been made feel more welcome, nor could our authors, and we have only praise for Ledbury's Artistic Director, Chloe Gardner, the Festival staff and the wonderful band of volunteers.”
Banipal, Magazine of Modern Arab Literature
"This event saw the launch of two new collections of poetry translated from Arabic and published by Banipal Books, Shepherd of Solitude by Amjad Nasser and Knife Sharpener by Sargon Boulus."
The Poetry Society
Ledbury Poetry Festival by Fiona Sampson, Graham Harthill.
“The Ledbury Poetry Festival wanted to encourage participation of not only the festival visitor but the residents themselves, and recognise that Ledbury's older citizens are, for various reasons, often isolated and on the fringe of such events as the Festival. They proposed that the two well respected poets Fiona Sampson and Graham Harthill do outreach work with local residential homes.”
guardian.co.uk, 3rd July 2009
The joys of a great poetry festival by Fred D'Aguair.
"The Ledbury Poetry Festival in Herefordshire, which takes place from 3 to 12 July, happens to be a great reason to pack a bag and kennel the dog."
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