We begin the week with a look at the poetry installation in Gloucester that opens today. We also have an article about the lifetime achievement award for Aviva Doran.

Poetry Everywhere in Gloucester

Thanks to a new art installation in Gloucester, the hills and the parks, and a number of other locations will be inscribed with poetry.

The exhibit has been curated by Luke Jerram, a local artist, and the spoken word artist and poet JPDL, and consists of stencilled artwork and large-scale letters that have been cleverly designed to blend in with the surrounding landscape.

Called “Of Earth and Sky” the exhibit features large scale installations with the work of around 30 different poets from a range of different local communities and beyond. It will be available to see from 24^th August to 1^st November.

The poetry stands approximately 1.2m high and is created using stand up wooden letters in 5 of the different locations. In the remaining locations, the artist has used large scale stencils on either a hard surface of the grass and it forms a part of the environment.

The poetry has been contributed by a range of individuals from youngsters of 10 to those who are retired. Some of the inspiration for the poetry has been provided by the pandemic whilst there are some about nature, the city and even the wider area.

In many of the locations, just a single line from the poem has been used. The complete poem can be found on the website linked to the project.

The line “Of Earth and Sky” after which the exhibition is named can be found in Orchard Square at Gloucester Docks. It is a line from the poem The Recluse, and an epic poem that the poet William Wordsworth began writing early on in life with the help of his good friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They wanted to create something even more epic than Paradise Lost by John Milton but never managed to finish it.

It is hoped that the exhibition which has been carefully planned with social distancing in mind will encourage visitors to the are to look at Gloucester in a different light.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Aviva Doran

Aviva Doran has been awarded a lifetime achievement award for her work researching Hebrew poetry in Spain. Prof. Doran has acquired an international reputation during the course of her study into Spanish Culture.

The award which has been given by the University of Haifa was awarded to Prof. Aviva Doran who is a poet and groundbreaking researcher working with poetry, Hebrew heritage in Spain and culture. During her research, she revealed the innovations that occurred in Hebrew poetry in the Sephardi-Christian period. Her research has been instrumental in changing the image of Hebrew poetry in Spain.

The professor is considered to be one of the top authorities in Spanish-Jewish poetry, not just in Israel but all over the world. She has also helped establish significant academic and cultural ties between the two countries.