The Foxlowe to present a night of music and poetry
A NIGHT of poetry and music is to be staged in Leek this Thursday.
Summer 2019 was a rough crossing for the various poets making their way across the water to the Isle of Arran.
They were finalists in the prestigious Mcclellan prize for poetry, and this was presentation night. From that gathering, three writers agreed to meet up the following year for an evening of poetry and music, with competition judge Sean O’brien as headline poet. It was going to be quite a night.
Then Covid struck and 2020 was off and then also was 2021.
Finally, this year, the event is going ahead. Sean O’brien couldn’t make the date, but the three finalists – Jim Caruth, Jane Kinton and first prize winner Pamela Brough - will be up there with words and music on May 12 at the Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek.
For extra good measure, musician Tim Pomeroy will cross the water from his home on Arran and add in songs and guitar in his own inimitable way.
Pamela lives near Flash in the Staffordshire Moorlands, and her work includes The Burma Play, promoted by Amnesty, sponsored by The Co-operative; Jinglebones, a long narrative poem grantaided by the Arts Council. Radio work includes Moorland Matters for BBC
Radio Stoke and Diary of a Moorland Winter, with Prunella Scales.
She worked with farmers in Cumbria during the Foot and Mouth epidemic, as Writer in Residence in Halewood, Merseyside during the Year of the Artist, and in schools, communities, and universities in northern England and Scotland.
A spokeswoman said: “Poetry has ways of connecting with people. It cuts through to what’s important in our lives. Given the world we live in, it’s no surprise that people turnout to listen.”
■ Out of Arran is at the Foxlowe Arts Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday May 12. Tickets £7 online or on the door.