We are working on the 2012 programme but you can still read about the 2011 talks below:

Talks

Saturday 2 July 2011
5. New Order: Hungarian Poets of the Post-1989 Generation - Arc Publications Showcase

‘Just now, there are no directions.’ Anna T Szabó

Our Publishers-in-Residence, Arc Publications, are champions of poetry in translation. This important event brings the Editor of their new anthology of Hungarian poetry, George Szirtes, together with poets Anna T Szabó and András Gerevich . Anna Szabó was born in Transylvania and is a prize winning poet and translator. András Gerevich is a poet, translator and screenplay writer. With George Szirtes, a wonderful poet in his own right, they will share the poetry of the new, post- 1989 Hungary.

We are grateful to the Hungarian Embassy and Worcester University for their support of this event.

This event will be introduced by Tony Ward, Founder of Arc Publications.

6. Adrian Johnson – Poetry on Film

Former Birmingham Poet Laureate Adrian Johnson has curated a season of poetry films, including Mario Petrucci’s film about Chernobyl and John Siddique’s moon poems. Join him for a discussion of his choices. CHANGE OF VENUE Films will be screened on Sat 9th July 12 noon – 1pm and Sun 10th July 3pm- 4pm at the Market House not the Baptist Church - we apologise for the lack of disabled access..

10. Derek Adams – Poetic Images

Photographer and Poet, Derek Adams has combined his two interests to produce a series of arresting black and white portraits of contemporary poets. The photographs, coupled with poems which explore aspects of photography written by the sitters form the basis of the exhibition Traced in the Shadow: ways of looking at poets. Poets included are, Matthew Hollis, Allison  McVety, Pascale Petit, Katrina Porteous, & Jo Shapcott, some of whom are appearing at the festival. Join Derel for an introduction to the display and to hear how it all came about.

12. Being Human: Anthology Reading with Neil Astley & Penelope Shuttle

‘I think it has a heartbeat,’ said Meryl Streep of this book. A successor to best-selling collections Staying Alive and Being Alive, Bloodaxe Books’ new anthology Being Human continues to shape the poetic landscape. Editor Neil Astley and poet Penelope Shuttle introduce Being Human with readings and discussion.

Sunday 3 July 2011
18. John Masefield Walk

9.30am – 12 noon

Meet at the John Masefield High School car park £8

‘The ground was level there; the daffodils

Glimmered and danced beneath their cautious feet,’

We will be returning to the scene of The Daffodil Fields after a break of seven years. Masefield’s tragedy is set in the countryside to the south of Ledbury.  Join Peter Carter, chairman of The John Masefield Society, for a walk towards Hall House Farm, then back to Ledbury over the Coneygree, with snatches of Reynard the Fox and other poems. Cautious feet will need to be well shod as we will tackle modest gradients and the Coneygree may be damp in places. Dogs on leads welcome.

Sponsored by the John Masefield Society.

19. Metaphor: I is Another with James Geary.

James Geary’s book, I is Another, is a masterly analysis of that most invasive and engaging of poetic devices, the metaphor. With a delightful clarity of thought, James Geary shows how language is enriched, metaphorically speaking. This event will be a breath of fresh air, a tonic for the troops and a marriage of true minds...

23. Poetry Connections India: Translation

‘In my language,’ she said, ‘there could be five different words for love.’

And she tasted them on her tongue as she spoke them aloud:

‘Bondhu. Bhai. Bhalobasha. Bhogobaan. Bhoboghurey.’  Sampurna Chattarji

What happens when a poet translates another poet’s work? And what if this is done within the space of a week packed with lively discussion and exploration of the shifts in sound and meaning that take place when a poem is transposed from one culture to another? UK poets Bill Herbert and Zoë Skoulding, Swiss German-language poet Raphael Urweider, and Indian poets Sampurna Chattarji and Meena Kandasamy talk about their experience of a workshop held in the inspirational surroundings  of Adi Shakti artist’s retreat near Pondicherry in South India.

With Alexandra Büchler and Akshay Pathak.

Presented by Literature Across Frontiers in cooperation with the German Book Office and Sangham House (the Ledig House Indian residency programme) and with support from the British Council, Pro Helvetia and Wales Arts International.

Monday 4 July 2011
35. The Poetry of Dementia - John Killick

How do you write poetry with people with dementia? John Killick has been working as a poet with people with dementia for 16 years which includes a Research Fellowship in Communication Through the Arts at the University of Stirling. John will outline the principles he follows, and give examples of work produced by people with the condition, including poems from the project now coming to an end in Herefordshire (in partnership with the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford).

Supported by the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford.

Thursday 7 July 2011
53. A Day In The Orchard

Dragon Orchard, Putley

Dragon Orchard Walk, lunch and workshop

Chris Fairs, Norman Stanier and David Walker are your hosts for a day consisting of a walk around this small traditional fruit farm (run by the same family for over 80 years), a special Dragon Orchard lunch of local produce and a Haiga workshop. David, who is a poet and a photographer, will have his photos exhibited in Dragon House. Always very popular.

Sponsored by Dragon Orchard

55. Matthew Hollis on Edward Thomas

Matthew Hollis, poet and Faber editor, turns biographer with Now All Roads Lead to France: the Last Years of Edward Thomas. It tells of Thomas’ creative life, and that of his contemporaries in the creative maelstrom around the First World War. Hear from the book, which has already won a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award, and a discussion of Edward Thomas’ role in this important period.

Sponsored by The Friends of the Dymock Poets

Friday 8 July 2011
58. Zimbabwean New Generation Poets

Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Kimberley-Rose Kasirowore and Michael Tsingo are all featured in State of the Nation: Contemporary Zimbabwean Poetry (2009). They focus on the unasked questions, unstated views, unattainable dreams and unfulfilled promises that have marked contemporary Zimbabwe. ‘An edgy, sometimes bleak, sometimes sorrowful and sometimes fiercely funny poetry’. –Horizon Review.

61. The Poetry of Birds - Tim Dee

Tim Dee is joint editor with Simon Armitage of The Poetry of Birds, and author of a wonderful memoir of a life spent – as far as possible – reading poetry and watching birds (The Running Sky: A Bird Watching Life). No-one is better placed to talk about how ornithology and poetry take wing together. If you have the energy for a dawn chorus walk, join him also for event 65.

68. The Future of Poetry

Our Poet-in-Residence Ian Duhig is joined by Antonia Byatt, National Director of Literature Strategy at Arts Council England and Jo Bell, one of this year’s two Ledbury Poetry Festival programmers, to talk about where poetry is going and how it is going to get there. Come along to face the future or to have your own say.

Sponsored by The Ronald Duncan Literary Foundation which exists to encourage and support creative excellence in the arts, especially poetry, drama and literature, and to sustain interest and research in the work associated with its namesake, the poet and playwright, Ronald Duncan. Duncan's archive is now housed at the University of Exeter as part of their Special Collections hub for research into South West based writers.

Saturday 9 July 2010

78. Stuart Maconie's Playlist

Stuart Maconie has been described as a ‘national trinket’. His fluid articulacy and good humour have won him a devoted audience on Radio 2, Radio 6 music and as a best-selling writer of non-fiction, with titles like Cider with Roadies and Pies and Prejudice. In a discussion with festival co-programmer Jonathan Davidson, he shares favourite poems and a few anecdotes to boot.

Sponsored by John Goodwin