Centenary Events: Isle of Wight

Farringford

The following Isle of Wight events have been made possible through partnerships with the Poetry Society, the National Trust, West Wight Landscape Partnership (WWLP) and Farringford Hotel and Holiday Village.

www.poetrysocietyisleofwight.co.uk will carry all information throughout the year.

For further information contact Stanza members: Edmund Matyjaszek at ems(AT)emsbase.co.uk or Camilla Lambert at camillalambert(AT)talktalk.net

1 May: The Poet & the Place

Tennyson reading to Victorian Society at Farringford www.farringford.co.uk/

26 May: Writing Workshop

for West Wight Women’s Institute members, led by Shore Women, Totland

1 June: Island Voices Poetry Competition Launch

Print Competition Details
Print Entry Form 

2 June: Poetry Picnic

Organised by Shore Women, outside Newtown Old Town Hall ,12 noon

Tuesday 30 June: Exploring Tennyson

Evening of talk and music, Brian Hinton and Paul Armfield at Farringford 6pm www.farringford.co.uk/

1 July: Walking in Tennyson's footprints

Poetry workshop led by Andrew Motion and Felicity Fair Thompson 10.30am to 4.30pm, Farringford www.farringford.co.uk/

1 July: An evening of poetry with Andrew Motion

7.30pm, Farringford www.farringford.co.uk/

8 July: Newman, Tennyson & Victorian Gothic

Reading at St Mary's Church Hall, Ryde. 7pm - including Tennyson's poems. www.stmarysryde.co.uk/

16 July: 8pm St Thomas Ryde “Sea Shore & Coastline”

Evening of readings, sea shanties and an open mic on the theme of the sea. 8pm, St Thomas' Heritage Centre, Ryde. A Ryde Arts Festival & Poetry Society Centenary event

All welcome; £2 entry fee and sign up by 7.55pm for the Open Mic (3 poems).

6 August: Tennyson 200th birthday celebration

Farringford. 2 lectures on his life and writing on the island, with afternoon tea. 4.30pm - 6pm www.farringford.co.uk/

7 August: for 5 weeks - exhibition 'Tennyson at Farringford'

Farringford (free entry) www.farringford.co.uk/

30 September: final date for submission to Island Voices Poetry Competition

28 October: Gerald Manley Hopkins celebration

Reading at St Mary's Church Hall, Ryde 7pm

14 November: Quay Arts

Final celebratory event, announcement of poetry competition winners and prize-giving, readings, close of centenary year, Quay Arts, Newport, 3pm to 6pm

From Edmund Matyjaszek (Isle of Wight Stanza): "The Poetry Society was founded in 1909 and in 2009 celebrates its Centenary.

It is the National Society for poetry, the art in which the English Language has found its highest form of expression - from Chaucer to Shakespeare, from Tennyson to Ted Hughes.

It is still owned and run by its members, with an independent board of trustees and a membership that has grown and developed in recent years. The Poetry Society works in schools, publishes the premier journal “Poetry Review”, advises the government and other bodies, and is active throughout the country to fulfil its stated purpose to promote “the study, enjoyment and use” of poetry.

The Poetry Society works locally through over 60 “Stanzas” in the UK and abroad. Stanzas are groups of members that meet and support poetry in their own area. The Isle of Wight has a vigorous and growing Stanza that was one of the first to form.

For the Centenary year, events are being planned at a national and local level. The National Trust has set up a partnership with the Society and is making available its sites, land and properties to help in the celebrations.

On the Island, this involves a whole series of activities for the Centenary Year, including:

Island Voices Open Poetry Competition
Island At War Writing Program with schools based on visits to NT sites
Sea, Shore & Coastline Open Mic & Performance Poetry at Ryde Arts Festival
Workshops and Readings Community based groups
The Poet and the Place Readings at Farringford for the bi-centenary of Tennyson

The aim is to celebrate the Centenary with specific reference to the Island itself, bearing in mind the Island’s considerable heritage of history and literature, with Tennyson, Keats, Swinburne, and WH Auden for example having particularly close association with the Isle of Wight by birth, residence or through their writings."


 


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