Margaret Atwood, Roger McGough, Ali Smith to headline Ledbury Poetry Festival, 5 - 14 July 2019
One of Canada's finest poets, Margaret Atwood, will appear on the second weekend of the 2019 Ledbury Poetry Festival. Margaret Atwood will appear in two events. She will give a poetry reading and she will also chat about her favourite poems with Ursula Owen.
Festival highlights include Roger McGough, who has not read at Ledbury since 2009. He will launch the Festival on Friday 5 July with a reading from his new collection, Joined Up Writing, published in March 2019. Best-selling Scottish writer Ali Smith is appearing on the second weekend of the Festival to share her best-loved poems in what is bound to be a unique and fascinating event.
American author Ilya Kaminsky will appear on the first weekend of the Festival. If you have not yet discovered this poet, you are in for a treat. Born in Odessa in 1977, his family emigrated to the USA in 1993. Jane Hirschfield writes, "Kaminsky is truly a descendant of Odysseus, after whom his birth city was named, and his poems reflect both Odyssean wanderings and the liberation of mind that opens the way to craft. Inventiveness of language, the investigative passion, praises, lamentation, and a proper sense of the ridiculous are omnipresent. Kaminsky poems are wholly local yet unprovincial, intimate yet free of ego."
Caribbean poet Ishion Hutchinson is another exciting addition to the programme. Published by Faber, he divides his time between the USA and Paris. Ledbury Poetry Festival is extremely lucky to be able to welcome him. This award-winning poet's latest collection is Lords and Commons described as ‘exquisite’ (New Yorker), ‘breathtaking’ (Los Angeles Times), ‘baroque and moon-lit’ (Boston Globe).
Finally, make sure you keep the evening of Saturday 6 July free. You may not have heard of The Indelicates, but their re-imagining of The Book of Job at the Festival in 2016 was one of the most memorable and enjoyable things I have seen! Their new theatrical and musical extravaganza is Paradise Rocks: Elvis meets Milton in a Hawaiian paradise of song. Expect an entertaining, inventive and intelligent re-working of Paradise Lost and a great Saturday night out! I cannot recommend this event highly enough.
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Margaret Atwood
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Roger McGough
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Paradise Rocks
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