Acclaimed performers Roger McGough and Jackie Kay have been confirmed for the line-up of the third Nottingham Poetry Festival.
The annual event appears from April 20 to 29 and has confirmed its headliners for 2018.
McGough is a multi award-winning poet, playwright, broadcaster and children’s author who first made his name in the 1960s as one of the ‘Liverpool Poets’.
Kay is an acclaimed Scottish poet and novelist whose published collections include the multi award winning The Adoption Papers.
The festival is backed by Nottingham Trent University and Confetti Media Group, and also supported by Castle Rock Brewery and Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature. Notts TV are also back on board and will be producing a series of poetry specials for broadcast on the channel.
Video: Roger McGough reads ‘A Fine Romance’, exploring the theme of dementia and its impact on relationships.
Produced by Nottingham-born poet Henry Normal, Confetti CEO Craig Chettle and Tommy Rosley, the festival involves a programme of more than 50 events in 10 days across multiple city venues.
It aims to attract some of the most renowned poets in the country while giving a platform to Nottingham’s lyrical literary scene.
This year’s line-up also includes Joolz Denby, Mark Grist, Holly McNish and Elvis McGonagall.
Local talent includes Nottingham’s Young Poet Laureate Georgina Wilding, the internationally renowned Jai Verma of Kava Rang, Andrew ‘Mulletproof’ Graves, Milla Tebbs, and Stephen Thomas.
There will also be a series of free ‘Poetry Hour’ events at Nottinghamshire Libraries hosted by Henry Normal and featuring local poets. Audiences are invited to join in by bringing along poems to read.
‘Sexy Poems’ will be unveiled at the Fox and Grapes, Clickbait at Jam Cafe while slams, writers’ workshops, Songs and Rhyme for Miners and much more will take place at venues across the city.
Georgina Wilding, Nottingham’s Young Poet Laureate will have poetry banners installed around the city commissioned by the Hockley Hustle & Young Hustler music and art festival.
An open festival preview, hosted by Wilding, will be held at the Fox and Grapes in Sneinton on April 5 from 7pm.
Sandeep Mahal of UNESCO Nottingham City of Literature, said: ” Poetry in Nottingham continues not just to thrive, but pack out venues, engage with communities often ignored, and lend our city a unique way to express itself.
“We now have a wonderful Young Poet Laureate in place for Nottingham, who is riding this wave of excellence with wit and panache. Nottingham Poetry Festival is not just a great way to show this off to ourselves, but to the world.“
Mr Chettle said: “Confetti Media Group is really thrilled to once again be supporting the festival and hosting several events at its Creative Quarter venue, Antenna.
“The festival has become a significant event in Nottingham’s annual cultural calendar, and whether a poetry-lover or not, this line-up should appeal to anyone looking to be informed, entertained, challenged and surprised”.
Event details including booking can be found at the festival website.
This year’s performers in profile:
Roger McGough: Humorous and surreal, Roger has been honoured with a CBE for services to literature and the Freedom of the City of Liverpool. He presents the long-running Poetry Please.
Jackie Kay: One of the most influential and adored wordsmiths of recent times, Jackie was named Scots Makar, the National Poet for Scotland in March 2016.
Mark Grist: One of the biggest names in UK spoken word having amassed more than 10 million YouTube views on his videos combined. He has multiple awards to his name including Edinburgh Fringe Slam Champion 2010 and Best Viral Video (Webby Awards) 2014.
Hollie McNish – Aan Arts Foundation Fellow in Spoken Word, she has garnered over seven million YouTube views for her online poetry performances and was the first poet to record at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios.
Elvis Mcgonnagal: From Cameron, Osborne and Merkel, to hipsters, talent shows and the Queen, no one is safe from his rhymes. With the air of an old-school rocker and sporting a dapper tartan teddy-boy blazer, his presence and charismatic delivery bring the poems to life.
Joolz Denby: Joolz’s work is featured in teaching aids for schools, notably Michael Rosen’s ‘Why Poetry? She has performed at five Edinburgh Festivals and 25 Glastonbury Festivals.
Henry Normal: Described as “the funniest man you’ve never heard of “ by The Telegraph, Henry Normal set up the award winning Baby Cow Productions with Steve Coogan in 1999 and has spent his time since creating some of Britain’s most loved TV. He co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show and much of Steve Coogan’s early TV shows. In June 2017 he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to Television. Born in St Ann’s, he has 7 collections of poetry published, has toured with the band Pulp and performed in the film ‘Glastonbury.’
