was the theme for this year’s National Poetry Day, and they turned out in many guises at the Royal Festival Hall last Thursday to celebrate the day and the Centenary of The Poetry Society
Poetry Slammers, Mr Gee and Joelle Taylor heroically held together a packed programme of live readings, interactivity – including the beach ball haiku – and archive footage of past poets. The old Post Office film, voiced over with Auden’s ‘Night Mail,’ proved a touchy choice on the day postal workers voted for a national strike – and yet, Auden’s rapping rhythms were in keeping with the mood of the afternoon.
By the end of this extravagant, wide-raging event it was clear why poetry heroine Carol Ann Duffy had to be the new poet laureate. Who else could nonchalantly extend a bridge between Mr Gee and Mr T. S. E other than Ms C Ann D?
Following archive footage of T. S. Eliot – newly announced as the nation’s favourite poet – Duffy made an effortless, dead pan link to the great man by reading her very different take on the ancient world, ‘Mrs Tiresias,’ from The World’s Wife. She then performed ‘Mrs Faust’ – the rhythms and humour couldn’t fail to connect to the many school students present.
Having captured the entire audience’s full attention, she ended on a more serious note and a nod to the future with her wonderful new eco-poem, commissioned specially for the day, 'Atlas' - a timely reminder of the earth’s fine balance and fragility. Read ‘Atlas,’ and hear Carol Ann Duffy read it, here.
And, there were the hundreds of unsung heroines who helped to mark the Poetry Society’s Centenary with the largest ever knitted poem. Dylan Thomas’s 'In My Craft or Sullen Art' was a great choice for this inclusive project – a wonderful reminder of why anyone writes poetry in the first place.
Want to give poetry a try? Collect ‘found’ poetry and contribute to Lemn Sissay’s Global Poetry Systems or try Caroline Bird’s video workshop, here.
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