Wordsworth Bridge Sale/Belarusian Poet Honoured/Slam to Help Save Building – Poetry News Roundup December 13th

Our final poetry round-up of the week takes a look at the sale of a bridge linked to Wordsworth, a Belarusian poet honoured and a poetry slam competition raising money to save a historic building.

Bridge Sale Surrounded in Secrecy

A while back we brought you a story about a bridge in the Lake District that had links to the poet William Wordsworth that was to be sold at auction.

Calvert Bridge, which is located near Keswick had been due to go up for auction online on Wednesday, but we can now report that it was, in fact, snapped up in advance of the auction launch by a buyer who wishes to remain anonymous. The bridge was to be auctioned with a starting price of just £1, but the buyer has also chosen to keep the purchase price a secret as well.

Wordsworth named the bridge after his school friend William Calvert and the sale also included a small portion or riverbank and nearby woodland. Auctioneers Landwood Property who were handling the sale are unable to release any information about the sale. However, they have stated that in the run-up to Wednesday they did a huge amount of interest in the lot which led to its sale before the auction had even begun.

 

Peoples Poet of Belarus Honoured

A plaque has been unveiled to commemorate Yanka Kupala the first poet of the people of Belarus. The plaque is located in the Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel which is located in Bratislava. It is the most prestigious and oldest hotel in the region.

The poet is believed to have stayed in the hotel at some point in 1935 when he was on a visit to Czechoslovakia as a member of a delegation that was made up of Russian writers.

The ceremony to unveil the plaque was organised by the hotel owners, the Yanka Kupala State Literary Museum and the Belarusian embassy. They talked about the relationship that existed between both countries and the bilateral cultural ties that exist; this is the first plaque to a Belarusian that has been unveiled in Slovakia.

In addition to the unveiling of the plaque, a book containing a collection of Kupala’s poems has been published in Slovak in conjunction with the Union of Slovak Writers. The ceremony was attended by government officials from both countries.

Money to be Raised for Historic Saginaw Mansion from Poetry Slam Contest

In Saginaw, Michigan a group of students have hosted an event that it is hoped will raise enough money to preserve the Charles Lee Mansion structure.

The poetry slam was run in conjunction with an open house at the building. It is hoped that enough money will be raised to enable what is one of the most iconic buildings in the area to be turned into a community space with multiple uses

The house was built in the late 1800’s for Charles Lee the lumber baron and was saved in 2018 when there were plans to demolish it. There is now a plan of preservation for the building that it is hoped will be put into place shortly.



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