Some Standouts at StAnza

I know many people reading this will like poetry, but let’s not preach to the converted here. If you don’t like poetry, or more probably, if you never really took to it but are interested in trying again, StAnza is a very good place to start.

Most people are first exposed to reading poetry in any serious way at school, where the very act of being taught it can often suck all the joy out of it – StAnza won’t do that. Sometimes people are put off by the archaic language, ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ and so on. StAnza is a very modern affair, and even if events do address older poetry, they’re all about making it accessible. Many people are put off the poems they’re taught by the very fact that the poets mentioned are dead, and therefore safe. And this is where StAnza is the most value, because it’s a festival where the whole point is to show that poetry is a living, lively art form.

Have a look at the programme. Some people could be fazed by the number of events, but don’t worry, because they’re well chosen, and there’s quality control – if it’s a StAnza event, it should be worth seeing. It’s only a five day festival, but it’s crammed with events of all sorts, so there should be something to appeal to you.

As a flavour of the kind of events you can go to, here are some selections. Every evening sees a big event at The Byre Theatre, and these are bound to be good. On the opening night, it’s The Golden Hour, the Forest Café’s regular spoken word evening which we’ve written about before, and which is always worth checking out. The next day, Thursday, sees a quality event when the multi award winning poet, and editor of Poetry Review, Fiona Sampson shares the stage with the exiled Chinese poet Yang Lian. Friday night brings former Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Paul Farley, accompanying acclaimed American poet and translator Marilyn Hacker. Saturday evening in The Byre sees T.S Eliot prize winner Philip Gross teamed with the prolific Selima Hill, winner of the Whitbread Poetry Prize, and Sunday night sees Irishman Ciaran Carson paired with well known Scot Douglas Dunn – followed by a finale with music by Lurach.

If readings aren’t your thing, that’s okay too. There are events at breakfast and lunch in the Poetry Cafés, so you can simply enjoy food with a literary accompaniment. Acts taking part in these include legendary slam poet Bob Holman, and Big Word’s always excellent Jenny Lindsay. Or you can go on a poetry walk, pop into the Byre Theatre some afternoons for a ‘poetic intervention’, or see an exhibition. These should be absorbing and informative, and include images and sculpture inspired by Sorley MacLean, shape poems inspired by the Persian poet Hafez, a poetry boat inspired by Bengali poet (and Nobel Prize winner) Rabindranath Tagore, and knitted poetry, inspired by the fun of it.

It’s all good stuff, basically. Personal choices would be the event on Saturday when poet Gawain Douglas reads from T.S. Eliot’s The Four Quartets – poets are often the best readers of poetry, oddly enough – and the annual opening day event showcasing the university’s own Inklight poets. But there’s plenty for anyone to choose from. Take a look for yourself, then see if you can make it there.