Wall To Wall Words

The full schedule for Morecambe Poetry Festival has now been released for the packed weekend of wall to wall poetry taking place 12-14 September.

The line up for the UK’s fastest growing poetry festival will see powerful performances from 45 poets, with several takeover events from poetry collectives from around the UK.

Michael Rosen, Clare Ferguson Walker, Henry Normal, Nigel Planer, John Hegley, Jan Brierton, Robin Ince, Luke Wright and Su Andi are this year’s stellar pick from the spoken word scene, with headliner double bill tickets now available.

As ever, the festival has loads going on for all ages from a flash mob poem performed by schoolchildren and pedal powered poetry outside the town’s library to the epic late night open mics - ‘Last Poet Standing’ and ‘They Shoot Poets Don’t They’.

Festival founder Matt Panesh said: “This festival is our biggest yet, the buzz it's created around the town is immense. I'm hugely looking forward to it. We have some of the best spoken word artists in the country,  are accessible at all levels and are here to enjoy the words, and the community spirit. And of course, have a brilliant time.”

Check the schedule to be sure to catch the many highlights including:

Workshops run by children’s authors; the Word Walks and How To Write a Poem drop in workshops at Morecambe Library on Saturday morning.

A retrospective of the legendary film poems of Tony Harrison followed by a Q&A by his long-time collaborator and television producer Peter Symes.

A Tribute to Hovis Presley -  the late poet and stand-up comedian from Bolton - with a staging of scenes from his play ‘Hovis in Wonderland’.

An exhibition by Write Out Loud, the community hub for poetry, celebrating their 20 year anniversary at the festival.

Bloodaxe Books, the UK's leading poetry publisher, will be in attendance with a number of their poets, underlining the festival’s growing literary importance.

Takeover Sessions featuring Speech Therapy from Nottingham, along with poets from London, Wordsworth Grasmere, and Manchester, celebrating the legacy of Jackie Hagan.

The winners of the Poetry Competition judged by John Hegley will be announced, with more than 550 entries this year. Each winning poet will see their work included in the daily ‘Chat book’ released during the festival.

The new Morecambe Poetry Anthology will be available featuring work from John Hegley, Nigel Planer, Henry Normal, Luke Wright and Su Andi, along with previously unpublished poets. All proceeds go towards making the festival happen.

Morecambe Poetry Festival is supported by Arts Council England, Waterstones, T S Eliot Foundation, Eden Project Communities, Wordsworth Grasmere and Morecambe Town Council.

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Shows for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday headliners are £20 each plus booking fees. Access to the second stage at the King’s Arms is £5 but admission is strictly limited due to capacity. The best way to catch all the action is to grab a weekend pass for guaranteed access to all the shows for just £65 plus booking fee.

To view the full schedule, CLICK HERE

Tickets available from Skiddle HERE

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Header image: Morecambe Poetry Festival at the town's Winter Gardens