A big ‘thank you’ to Roger McGough and Ian McMillan who each wrote a poem and recorded a video especially for Royston Arts Festival 2020. Wendy Cope also contributed readings of two of her poems and Simon Armitage’s agent was very helpful.
The aim of this part of the festival is to engage the reader with a number of short poems in a range of different styles and by doing so encourage them to explore further, hence the focus mainly on well-known and living poets. Please use the top menu which will drop down to reveal the poets covered.
Necessarily, this is a small sample of the huge range of poets and poems available to read, either online or more traditionally via a book, selected by just one person with no claim to any particular authority on the subject. If you are new to poetry the key thing to remember is that a poem is meaningful only if you can find some meaning in it. Don’t worry if what you enjoy isn’t ‘fashionable’! Your opinion is as good as anyone else’s!
If you wish to explore the subject of poetry further The Poetry Archive is a useful resource and for young people The Children’s Poetry Archive. The Poetry Society is another UK based resource and The Poetry Foundation provides an American perspective on the subject.
More links to poems and poetry will be added to this page as the festival progresses.