This week on My Poetic Side we take a look at the WW1 poet being celebrated in film, a tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah and John Cooper Clarke’s poetry tour.
First World War Poet Celebrated in Film to be Screened in Newlyn
A film that celebrates the celebrated First World War poet and composer, Ivor Gurney, will be screened on Remembrance Sunday in Newlyn.
Titled Severn and Somme the Life of Ivor Gurney, the film looks at the contrast between the horrors of war that the poet experienced and his love of the landscape of Gloucestershire. The later was the inspiration for much of his music and poetry.
He was shot as well as gassed and shell shocked when he returned from the war, and he declined slowly into madness before being held in an asylum.
Now he is recognised amongst the great poets of WW1 alongside the likes of Edmund Blunden, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. He has a memorial stone in Poets Corner at Westminster Abbey in London.
The film has won several international film festival awards and has also been screened at several literary festivals in the UK.
British Academy Will Pay Tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah
The late poet Benjamin Zephaniah will be celebrated during a British Academy event “Poetry in Protest” which will take place on 30th October. The event will highlight the force that verse can have on brining about political change. Zephaniah was widely known for his social conscience.
Jackie Kay, the award winning poet will be one of the guest speakers at the event and she will be joined by literary activist Kadija George and Monika Radojevic who was the 2029 winner of the Merky Books new writers prize.
The poet was also one of the Honorary Fellows of the British Academy alongside Kay. He worked on the anthology “Black Radical” with George.
This event is the latest in a long line to pay tribute to the poet who was respected and admired for not only for his poetry but also for his stance on a range of social topics.
John Cooper Clarke to Headline UK Arena in 2025
The punk poet, John Cooper Clarke is set to become the first poet who will headline a show in a UK arena in 2025 with a performance that will take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live. The event will be part of his “In Celebration of World Poetry Day” tour which will run for three tours.
The poet who is 75 years old will also be performing at the London Palladium and Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham.
The collaboration between the poet and Co-Op will pay tribute to “Manchester, its people, and the venue”. The Co-Op has had a significant presence in the community over the course of recent years. Cooper Clarke’s most recent ode which has been written in his signature punk style pays tribute to the connection between the Co-Op and its place in each community.
John Agard, Henry Normal and Linton Kweis Johnson will be joining the poet at different venues as part of his tour. The event is being hailed as a “one-of-a-kind journey” through poetry with a unique perspective.
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