The search has begun for entries from people of all ages for the seventh Ripon Poetry Festival competition.
This year’s event runs from September 19 to September 22 and the closing date for entries is July 31.
Advising would-be entrants, festival curator Andy Croft (pictured) said that the poems “can be serious or funny, solemn or silly. And they can be on any subject you like”.
He added:
“If you are looking for inspiration – how about writing about Hope? The wars in Gaza and Ukraine? climate change, the cost of living, polluted rivers, the refugee crisis, plastic in the oceans – at the moment we could all do with a bit of Hope…”
The best of the entries will be collected in three books published during the festival. Everyone who has a poem in one of the books will be invited to read at the launches on Saturday 21 September, where they will receive a free copy.
The categories are:
Highlights of this year’s programme include well-known performance poets Kate Fox and Adisa the Verbaliser, readings by Jackie Litherland, Marilyn Longstaff and Joe Williams.
There will also be poetry-workshops for children and grown-ups, an open-mic evening and book-launches by local poets Trevor Vaughan and Ian Clark.
The 2023 festival proved a huge success with sell-out performances and a record entry for the annual poetry competition.
More information about the poetry competitions or about the festival can be obtained from Andy Croft on 07721890778 or info@smokestack-books.co.uk.
Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town. You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com
On Sunday evening, celebrated actor and director Barrie Rutter addressed an audience of theatre and poetry lovers at Ripon Arts Hub. This was the finale of a culturally rich season of events in Ripon, and a collaboration between Ripon Poetry Festival and Ripon Theatre Festival.
Yorkshire-born-and-bred theatre legend Rutter received the Sam Wanamaker Award, for pioneering Shakespearean theatre, in 2003, and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to drama.
He is perhaps best known as the founder and former artistic director of ground-breaking touring theatre company Northern Broadsides, based in Halifax. The organisation was created to bring together northern casts who would speak in unapologetically northern dialect, delivering Shakespeare to northern audiences to perform in venues that Rutter describes as “non-velvet” – from boatsheds in Hull to cattle markets in Skipton. His work gained him a reputation as a true trailblazer and as an ultimate champion of theatre in the north.
With a career spanning over 50 years, spent on stage, on screen and in theatres across the world, Rutter has a great many stories to tell. He seamlessly interspersed personal anecdotes – from mingling with jazz musicians in 1970s New York, to getting drunk in champagne caves with his friend, Hugh Griffith, of Ben-Hur fame, to his favourite behind-the-scenes Shakespeare stories – with poetry, prose, and musings on language, citing everything from Baudelaire to Bilston, along with his poetry, the poetry of his friends, and that of the north.
An entertainer in the purest form of the word, Rutter is forthright and wry, yet measured and precise in his reflections; in the intimate space of Ripon Arts Hub, his thoughts and tales made for captivating listening. His love for language, the way words work, and the magic of word play were all on resplendent display, and he plotted these, humorously and often poignantly, against the story of his life, career, and the people he has met along the way.
Record entry for Ripon Poetry Festival competition
The 2023 Ripon Poetry Festival, which came to a close yesterday evening, proved a success with sell-out performances and a record entry for the annual poetry competition.
The final event, held at the Ripon Arts Hub on Allhallowgate, was an evening with theatre legend Barrie Rutter, the actor and director who founded Northern Broadsides to champion acting talent from the north.
This year’s 11-day festival also featured Internationally-famous children’s author Michael Rosen, who made a return to the city, having helped to launch the first Ripon Poetry Festival in 2017.
Festival curator Andy Cross told the Stray Ferret:
“It has been another tremendous year. We’ve had sell-out events from the outset and more than 300 entries for the poetry competition, which is a new record.”
Mr Croft (pictured above, centre) was among the panel of three judges that included Ripon Theatre Festival director Katie Scott and last year’s competition winner Simon Strickland (pictured left) who selected the poem, Newborn, written by Edmund Thomson Jones as the 2023 winning entry.
His entry, which was inspired by the birth of his daughter, now features alongside other entries in the 142-page festival anthology titled Creative Juices.
A separate anthology including entries from children, has also been published.
The festival, which is the biggest of its kind in Yorkshire saw performances from poets Hadley-James Hoyles, Alison Carr, Robert Powell and Sarah Wimbush.
In addition to workshops for children and adults there was open mic evening organised by Write-on Ripon and Ripon Writers Group.
A review of An Audience with Barrie Rutter is available here.
Famous author to return to Ripon Poetry Festival
Internationally-famous children’s writer Michael Rosen, who helped to launch the first Ripon Poetry Festival in 2017, is returning to the city to take part in this year’s event.
The author, whose works include We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, features in a packed programme that also includes theatre legend Barrie Rutter, the actor and director who founded Northern Broadsides to champion acting talent from the north.
The festival, which will run from September 21 until October 1, is the biggest of its kind in Yorkshire and will also see performances from poets Hadley-James Hoyles, Alison Carr, Robert Powell and Sarah Wimbush.
In addition to workshops for children and adults and an open mic evening organised by Write-on Ripon and Ripon Writers Group, Tim Harrison, former director of music at Middlesbrough Cathedral is joining forces with author, poet and festival curator Andy Croft for the world premiere of a chamber oratorio.
At the heart of the festival is a competition for poets of all ages who are being invited to submit their creative work for consideration by an independent panel of judges.
Entries are now open for three categories — under-11s, 12 to 18 year-olds and adults.
Those judged to be the best will be published in anthologies covering each of the three age ranges. More details about the festival and how to enter can be found by clicking here.
Poets perform to packed audiences at Ripon festival
The fifth Ripon Poetry Festival came to a close yesterday after four days of readings, performances, workshops and book unveilings at venues across the city.
Among the highlights were the launches, at a packed Ripon Arts Hub operatic hall, of two anthologies containing the works of children and adults who entered the festival poetry competition.
Festival curator Andy Croft told the Stray Ferret:
“There was a record 260 entries from children and adults this year and the standard of writing was so high that the judges found it difficult to decide which of the poems to select for inclusion in each of the books.
“We published the children’s anthology for the first time this year and it was delightful to hear them reading out their work.
“One little girl, who was too small to reach the microphone, went on stage holding her mum’s hand and delivered her poem like a seasoned professional.”
In the children’s category, the under 11 winner was Merry Reeves, while the 11 to 18 prize was awarded to Beatrice Harrison.
A moving poem titled Three-legged Dog by Simon Strickland, which featured the impact of a colliery’s closure on a mining community, was selected as the best poem in the category for adults.
Ripon Poetry Festival curator Andy Croft
First-time competition entrant Nicky Hasson achieved a remarkable treble when three of her poems were selected for publication in the adult anthology and there was double delight when her daughter Jess, a third-year student studying English literature and creative writing at Lancaster University, also had her poem selected for inclusion.
Nicky said:
“I was amazed because I only started writing poetry in November and I certainly wasn’t expecting this. I was also delighted for Jess.”
The festival, which is the largest of its kind in Yorkshire, featured the published works of well-known poets Linda France, Helen Mort, Tara Bergin, Henry Raby and Jim Greenhalf, alongside amateur wordsmiths who write for pleasure.
Tickets are now available for Ripon Poetry Festival, which has grown year on year to become the biggest event of its kind in Yorkshire.
The four-day feast of readings, performances, workshops and book launches, runs from September 22 to 25 at venues across the city.
Claire Thompson, who is outreach librarian at Ripon Library and one of the judges for the festival poetry competition, told the Stray Ferret:
“We attracted a record 260 entries this year from poets of all ages.
“This prompted us to produce separate anthologies of poems written by children and adults, selected for publication after catching the eyes of judges.”
The respective children’s and adult anthologies will be launched at 5.30pm and 7.30pm on September 24 in the Operatic Hall at Ripon Arts Hub.
Ripon Bowling Club at Bondgate Green is the venue on September 23 for The Testament of Jake Thackray.
Festival curator Andy Croft, who is a talented poet, prolific author and publisher, said:
“We were so impressed with the standard of entries received from children, that we decided they should have a book of their own.
“This will be the fifth time that we have staged the festival and this year’s line-up includes well-known poets Linda France, Helen Mort, Tara Bergin, Henry Raby and Jim Greenhalf.”
The festival will include posthumous launches of new books by Yorkshire poets David McAndrew, who taught English for many years at Ripon College and Vernon Scannell, whose work titled Farewell Performance, is being published to mark the centenary of his birth.
Humorous songs written by the late singer-songwriter, journalist and poet Jake Thackray, will be performed by Mike Wilson and Keith Wilshere in an evening of entertainment at Ripon Bowling Club.
In addition to the arts hub and bowling club, a wide range of venues will be used to increase accessibility to events.
These include Community House, Evolve, The Walled Garden, Jennyruth Workshops, The Leper Chapel on Magdalen’s Road, Ripon Library, The Walled Garden and Thorpe Prebend.
As well as being available through the Ripon Poetry Festival website tickets can be purchased on the door or in advance from the Little Ripon Bookshop on Westgate.