Ledbury Poetry Festival - 1st - 10th July, Ledbury

Join us for 10 Sparkling Days of Poetry...

The Festival celebrates 20 years with a chorus of poets reading from the Festival's anniversary anthology Hwaet! James Fenton is making a rare and exclusive appearance in the UK. Carol Ann Duffy gives a gala performance which includes classic poems set to music by Little Machine. Eileen Atkins, Edmund de Waal and Peter Tatchell will chat about their desert island poems. Poets including Grace Nichols, John Agard, Frieda Hughes, Jacob Polley, Mark Doty, Andrew McMillan, Hannah Lowe, Sarah Howe, Hollie McNish and Fleur Adcock. Indian poet Karthika Naïr will give a re-telling of The Mahabharata. Sir Jonathan Bate will talk about Ted Hughes. There is cool poetry/ jazz-improv with Tongue Fu. The Festival welcomes poets from South Africa, turns the spotlight on refugee and migrant experiences. The poetry breakfast under the Market House is always a special occasion and this year entertainment is provided by poet-priest Malcolm Guite, who performs his beautifully crafted poems and plays the guitar! Juliet Stevenson reads her selection of poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, with narrative by Mark Fisher. Theatrical events include the highly recommended The Book of Job the Musical. Also Ovid’s Heroines with Clare Pollard and The Magnetic Diaries written by Sarah James. There are still a few places on the Poetry and Meditation Retreat led by Maitreyabandhu, Matthew Sweeneyand Fiona Sampson. Maitreyabandhu's illuminating Poetry East style interviews with Medbh McGuckian and Arundhathi Subramaniam. Maitreyabandhu's interview approach unpacks how poetry is relevant, accessible and meaningful and are an opportunity to enjoy thought-provoking conversations with some of our most challenging and respected poets. Punk 'n' Poetry combines great music and the voices of Spoz and Jonny Fluffypunk. There are talks on Frank O’Hara and Eleanor Farjeon and an event on poetry and neuroscience. A rare chance to hear Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail. Another highly recommended event is Voices from the Cillín,  which is accompanied by an exhibition inspired by Ireland's unmarked graveyards. The Festival finale is Bards without Borders, an uplifting and inspiring performance by a troupe of multilingual bards who speak back to Shakespeare with newly written poems.