The University of Winchester is spreading the word about poetry.
To celebrate National Poetry Day on 5 October, the University is hosting a performance by Antosh Wojcik in the Stripe Auditorium.
Antosh is also a drummer and sound artist and he combines these skills with his poetry. His cross-disciplinary performance piece, How To Keep Time: A Drum Solo for Dementia, was commissioned by Penned in the Margins and toured the UK and internationally in 2019.
He will be reading from 7.30pm and his appearance will be followed by a Poetry Slam competition, where students, graduates, and members of the public are invited to perform their work.
Antosh says his performance will be an exploration of the National Poetry Day theme, 'Refuge' and will include poems that navigate being a descendant of a Polish refugee and how that definition has changed over time.
This year’s National Poetry coincides with National Homelessness Day. All those attending the Stripe are encouraged to bring an item to support Winchester Beacon and Winchester Basics Bank on the day.
Earlier in the day the University will be holding two poetry workshops in the St Alphege Building.
Dr Mark Rutter hosts the first, from 4pm to 5.30pm, which is dubbed Poetic Ideas and Inspirations.
Performance Poetry – Finding Your Voice with professional poet Kaycee Hill, runs from 5.45pm to 7pm.
All the University events, under the umbrella title Spreading the Word are open to the public and free to attend. To reserve a place at one or all of them visit Spreading the word: A free poetry event
Event organiser Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this diverse and ever-evolving artform, and to raise the curtain on another exciting Winchester Poetry Festival.”
The events are an unofficial curtain raiser for Winchester Poetry Festival (13-15 October) which includes the University amongst its sponsors.
This year’s festival line-up includes award-winners Daljit Nagra and Zaffar Kunial, Welsh poet and activist Menna Elfyn, performance poet Luke Wright, sci-fi verse novelist Harry Josephine Giles and critically-acclaimed poet and biographer Matthew Hollis.
There will be 25 performances, workshops, discussions and readings. Some will be live-streamed and 11 events are free to attend.
Festival director Clare Pollard said: “Our theme - the languages of the United Kingdom - is a wonderful excuse to showcase a diverse range of exciting poetries… there should be something to whet the appetite of anyone who loves language and literature. I can’t wait.”
To find out more visit Winchester Poetry Festival.
Pictured top: Poet Antosh Wojcik. Photo by Felix Schmilinsky.
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