Stanza 2014 poetry festival programme includes Jacob Polley and Carly Brown
Rachel McCrum
credit: Chris Scott
Scotland's most renowned poetry festival takes place in St Andrews
This year will see over 40 festivals celebrating literature, storytelling and poetry across Scotland. Speaking of poetry, the most renowned is StAnza, the annual international festival that takes over St Andrews each chilly March. After the closure of the Byre Theatre last year, the festival decamped to the Town Hall for its main base of operations. Part of the magic of StAnza, however, is how poets and poetry permeate the entire town, from coffee shops to street corners.
St Andrews natives (sort of) Jacob Polley and Carly Brown are both appearing at the festival in 2014 (Fraser Gallery, Fri 7 Mar, and Byre Theatre, Thu 6 Mar, respectively). For Cumbrian-born, award-winning poet and St Andrews lecturer Jacob, 'StAnza is a major literature festival and to have it happen very happily and successfully in this small Fife town is something to make a noise about. I think WN Herbert, who last year published Omnesia, an extraordinary double volume of poems, is pretty unmissable, and I'm intrigued to see Alexander Hutchison and Brian Turner discuss David Jones and Isaac Rosenberg. Both these events happen on Friday 7 March, so I'll be spoilt that day.'
Carly Brown, originally from Austin, Texas, and now studying English literature at St Andrews, is the current Scottish Slam Champion and has been volunteering at StAnza since she began her degree. 'StAnza is unique because it brings so many diverse international poets together in one place. St Andrews is so manageable and small, you can see many poets and events in one day. Plus, I got my start in Slam Poetry from winning the StAnza slam last year!'
StAnza, various venues, St Andrews, Wed 5–Sun 9 Mar.
Poetry Café: Carly Brown and McGuire
The first of this year's lively Poetry Café events offers poetry to spice up the lunch included in the ticket price from two ace slammers. Carly Brown is our local slam champion. She rocketed off from winning the StAnza 2013 slam to take the Scottish Slam crown and then to represent Scotland in the World Slam…
Jacob Polley
A poet and novelist whose latest collection Jackself won the T.S.Eliot Prize and was described as 'a firework of a book'. His poetry is complex, inventive and exciting.
Past & Present: Alexander Hutchinson and Brian Turner
Our Past & Present sessions present contemporary speakers giving a personal response to a favourite past poet. For 2014, to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, our Past & Present sessions focus on poets who wrote in response to war. In this event Alexander Hutchinson offers a searching…
StAnza 2015 Preview
Scotland's International Poetry Festival comes to Edinburgh, with this event presented by Eleanor Livingstone, the festival's director. It also features Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca, and award-winning poet Agnes Torok.
Paul Muldoon, Carol Ann Duffy and John Burnside announced for StAnza 2014(3 Oct 2013)
Sujata Bhatt, David Constantine, Tishani Doshi, Brian Turner and Menna Elfyn also to appear
StAnza 2019: 'Poetry will not change or save the world but it will always be on the side of resistance to hate'(1 Feb 2019)
Some of this year's StAnza poets tell us their thoughts on the power of poetry beyond borders
Who Run the World? How female poets are leading the evolution of the literary scene(16 Feb 2018)
Some of this year's StAnza poets tell us why the future of poetry is about celebrating difference and breaking convention
StAnza returns for its 21st year(14 Dec 2017)
Headliners include Sinead Morrissey, Ko Un, Gillian Allnutt and Douglas Dunn
Imprisoned poets: how Scottish PEN seeks to help persecuted writers around the world(8 Mar 2017)
Stanza 2017: Patience Agbabi and Jim Carruth lead readings by Turkish poets to highlight the work of the organisation
'It's like an apprenticeship' – James Robertson and Aonghas MacNeacail on studying the powerful poets of the past(7 Mar 2017)
StAnza 2017: two award-winning writers discuss their influences, and how imitation is an inevitable part of art
Writing poetry in the age of Twitter and Facebook: 'there are no answers, only questions'(7 Mar 2017)
StAnza 2017: Digital Poet in Residence Christodoulos Makris on how he creates poetry from the contents of his browser history
StAnza 2017 celebrates Scotland's heritage and international partnerships(17 Feb 2017)
Patience Agbabi, Jackie Kay and Ron Butlin among the many highlights of this year's programme
Alexander Hutchison
Carly Brown
Isaac Rosenberg
WN Herbert
Celebrity authors signing copies of their latest books.
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