Ledbury Poetry Festival

I AM ON MY WAY - Thursday 3rd July
Airports are sometime a very tedious place to be, but they do allow such freedom of movement that we are lucky to be able to achieve and now I am on my way to Ledbury via London Gatwick and Gloucester. It was hot when I left home and then I found that England was having a good summer's day too - the hottest day this year.

NOW I AM THERE - on Friday
This was the first day of the Ledbury Poetry Festival and I had two events booked both being totally different in venue and genre.
The first one was with David Reynolds, Cambridge Professor of International History who introduced his thought that both World War One and Two should be assessed in a broader and more sophisticated approach. We have our own concept of these wars through what we have read, and in my case the poems of Wilfred Owen, some other poets and the way that history has been slanted. This is seen as a narrow approach and having listened to this historian I have to agree with him.
He is promoting his book The Long Shadow: The Great War & The Twentieth Century.
If you cannot afford to buy me his book then I will have to watch BBC2 in September and so can you.
This was sponsored by Ronald Duncan Literary Foundation that supports artistic projects.

Edward and Helen Thomas
My second event still had a war theme and in an amazing setting. I had gone from a Baptist Church in Ledbury (for Reynolds) to an historic church on the Gloucester/Hereford border at St Margaret's Church, Kempley.
It has the oldest known roof timbers in Western Europe and the walls are adorned with murals. They have survived Protector Cromwell by being lime-coated and they must have been incredibly colorful when first done. I do need to go back and re-examine this church and enjoy what has been saved albeit with some fading and loss of detail.
Anyway, that was the venue but why was I there? Well, Juliet Stevenson was premiering Deryn Rees-Jones ambitious poem sequence in connection with Edward Thomas and entitled 'And You, Helen'. She being the wife and widow Edward Thomas after he had gone to war of his own choosing and was killed at Arras in 1917.
A reason for this to be read here was because it is the area where Edward Thomas lived for a while, walked, thought out and talked poetry with Robert Frost. These two writers were (with others including Rupert Brooke) known collectively as the 'Dymock Poets'
It took over fifteen minutes to read and there is not a chance that I can do the content and delivery on this one reading any justice, but now that you know about it you can read it for yourself.

Both events were totally different, both professionally delivered and absorbing. I would not have wanted to have missed either of them. They were superb.
On a general note it is wonderful to be in green and pleasant land with friendly people who are helpful, smiley and chat freely with, it seems, anyone. Well done Ledbury.

Saturday is Tarrington Village Fete - possibly in the rain - followed by two events at Hellen's Manor at Much Marcle, some poetry readings and an-all-nighter writing poetry in the grounds from midnight until breakfast. I had always wanted to spend a period of time doing just that, listening to the sounds of the night away from the distractions that living in this modern world seems to force upon us - iPads! It is going to be a busy 24 hours.