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The poetry festival celebrates the written and spoken word
Image: Joelle Taylor by Roman Manfredi
Newcastle Poetry Festival makes its return at Northern Stage from Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th May, with a mix of talent both national and local, celebrating the medium of the spoken and written word. If you’re part of the growing audience for audio-based entertainment, then you may enjoy the various performances that this festival has to offer, including live readings from current poet laureate Simon Armitage.
The theme in 2022 is EMERGENCY, which is investigated in a myriad of ways. The Poetry Book Society will host The Emergency Poetry Summit, where a range of creative writers, performers, producers and readers can come together for discussion. Born Lippy, Newcastle’s leading spoken word night, will present an open mic night which shines a spotlight on our local writers and performers, alongside a performance from Door to Door poet Rowan McCabe.
The festival will also feature a series of workshops run by writers and performers, as well as various talks and seminars, including In The Poet’s Chair, a chat with with award-winning poet Roger Robinson hosted by Jackie Kay, a professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. Other highlights include readings from Costa Book of the Year Award winner Hannah Lowe, who is joined by former UK slam champion Joelle Taylor; three internationally acclaimed poets, Grace Nichols, John Asgard and Imtiaz Dharker, explore themes of displacement, grief and diasporic voices; and meditations on time, family and memory come courtesy of Linda Anderson, John Challis and Denise Saul.
Audiences can enjoy the festival both in person at Northern Stage and online.
