About The Festival

Wenlock Poetry Festival is fast becoming one of the top poetry festivals in the UK. Though only in our third year, we are already attracting some of the very best poets and performers writing and working today. At the same time we encourage performances by up-and-coming poets and we showcase our local poets too. We offer a wide range of workshops for adults, children and young people encouraging creativity for all participants.

As Carol Ann Duffy says, Much Wenlock is “the perfect place for poetry” and we prove it. The Festival this year hasmore than 50 events, including poetry performances and workshops along with a host of exciting poetry activities, exhibitions and celebratory events in our lovely town. There really is something for everyone!

Wenlock Poetry Festival is more than the festival itself, however. We are a poetry development project with a number of year-round activities and some very clear aims which we intend to deliver over the coming years. The Arts Council has expressed confidence in our ambitions for this and next year by awarding us a grant of £17,000.

In addition to the annual Festival we have

• a Poetry in Schools development scheme to enable children and young people to work directly with established and emerging poets in schools in and around Much Wenlock and mid-Shropshire.
• a Poetry and Visual Arts development programme to explore best practice in the engagement of poetry with visual art, architecture, the built environment and the natural world.
• a Poet Development scheme to enable emerging poets to gain artistic and industry support to sustain their creative careers, including the opportunity to give poetry readings and lead workshops at the Festival.
• a major poetry prize to be awarded annually from 2013, the Adrian Henri Prize for Poetry in Art will further the links between poetry and art by encouraging new work and awarding a substantial cash-prize to the winning artist.
• a Poetry in the Community development scheme which is aimed at groups and individuals who don’t usually experience the magic of poetry in their lives. The scheme will work directly with established and emerging poets in and around Much Wenlock and mid-Shropshire.

We have big ambitions, and big ideas! We are determined in our ambition to confirm Much Wenlock as the perfect place for poetry. Our roots are proudly local but our ambitions are regional, national and international. Join us!