Category: 2022

Linda Anderson, John Challis, and Denise Saul

Saturday 7th May, 2.30-3.30pm Northern Stage £5/£3 These bold and insightful debuts offer meditations on time, memory and family. Linda Anderson’s collection The Station Before (Pavilion Poetry, 2020) ruminates on the links between history and nature, with keen observations on light and places of sanctuary.  John Challis’ The Resurrectionists  expertly explores voices of industry and… Continue reading Linda Anderson, John Challis, and Denise Saul

In the Poet’s Chair: Roger Robinson

Thursday 5th May, 6.30-8pm Northern Stage £5/£3 Join Jackie Kay, one of Scotland’s most celebrated voices, for a unique discussion about poetry with T.S. Eliot prize-winning poet, Roger Robinson. In this event, Jackie will interview Roger about his writing process, his past, and his priorities. Roger will also read from his prize-winning collection, A Portable… Continue reading In the Poet’s Chair: Roger Robinson

Jennifer Williams, Ben Wilkinson, and Andre Naffis-Sahely

Saturday 7th May, 4-5pm Northern Stage £5/£3 These poets celebrate the human voice amidst political, environmental and personal change. In High Desert (Bloodaxe), André Naffis-Sahely reflects on class, race, and nationalism within the American Southwest, in extraordinary poems of witness and vision; Jennifer Williams’ new collection, Origins (Shearsman), is a song of light and breath telling… Continue reading Jennifer Williams, Ben Wilkinson, and Andre Naffis-Sahely

Workshop 1: Jennifer Wong (online)

Friday 6 May, 10.00-12.00 Online workshop via Zoom £15 Breaking down stereotypes through poetry Stereotypes exist everywhere we look. In the way we name people and places, in the purchase of ready-made language, themes and forms. In this 21st century, how do we advocate change and equality through our writing? What language do we claim… Continue reading Workshop 1: Jennifer Wong (online)

The High Commission of Canada in the UK and Griffin Poetry Prize event: Eve Joseph, Billy-Ray Belcourt, and Kathleen Jamie

Saturday 7th May, 5.30-6.30pm Northern Stage £5/£3 This hybrid event is generously sponsored by The High Commission of Canada in the UK and with media support from the Griffin Poetry Prize. Bridging together literary talent from Canada and the UK, we present poets associated with the Griffin Poetry Prize, one of world’s most generous international… Continue reading The High Commission of Canada in the UK and Griffin Poetry Prize event: Eve Joseph, Billy-Ray Belcourt, and Kathleen Jamie

Poetry Live!

Friday 6th May, 10am-12pm Frederick Douglass Centre Free (event for schools only) Newcastle Poetry Festival invites schools in the North East to a special edition of Poetry Live! which brings GCSE poetry to life. Featuring readings from some of the UK’s most known and loved poets, including Imtiaz Dharker, Simon Armitage, Grace Nichols, John Agard,… Continue reading Poetry Live!

Hannah Lowe and Joelle Taylor

Saturday 7th May, 7-8.15pm Northern Stage £5/£3 Our final event celebrates two phenomenal prize-winning poets. Hannah Lowe is the author of the 2021 Costa Book of the Year, The Kids (Bloodaxe), a book of sonnets about teaching and learning, inspired by Lowe’s own experience working as a teacher at an inner-city London sixth form. Joelle… Continue reading Hannah Lowe and Joelle Taylor

Workshop 2: Polly Atkin (online)

Friday 6 May, 12.00-14.00 Online workshop via Zoom £15 To speak the impossible hope of the firefly: trying to notice joy in a time of ecological crisis How can we write through, about and against ecological crisis without being eaten by despair? In this workshop we will look at poems that address climate emergency, apocalyptic… Continue reading Workshop 2: Polly Atkin (online)

Hannah Hodgson

Hannah Hodgon is an award-winning poet and a palliative care patient. In her compelling debut collection 163 Days, she uses a panoply of medical, legal, and personal vocabularies to explore what illness, death and dying does to a person as both patient and witness.