Monday, August 13, 2012

EDINBURGH: Poetry in the Persian Tent


Poetry in the Persian Tent - August 22-26

Renowned poets Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay, John Glenday, Vicki Fever, Aonghas MacNeacail and Stewart Conn will headline the Poetry in the Persian Tent reading series this August to raise funds for Liz Lochhead and Jim Carruth's Old MacDonald Had a Farm for Africa Project, in association with Oxfam. Organised by Stephanie Green and hosted by the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, the poetry readings will take place at 11am to 12pm each day from Wednesday the 22nd of August to Sunday the 26th of August, 2012 at Venue 127. Tickets are available through the Hub box office for £10 (£8 concessions) each.

Scotland's Makar Liz Lochhead said "Come every day - a fantastic line-up of poets for a fabulous cause."

Liz Lochhead will feature at two of the Poetry in the Persian Tent readings, while National Poetry Competition judges Jackie Kay, John Glenday and Vicki Feaver as well as former Edinburgh Makar, Stewart Conn and Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail will each headline a reading in the series.

Also reading will be William Letford, who is shortly to be published by Carcanet, Jane McKie, winner of the Edwin Morgan Prize, 2011 and Helen Mort, former Poet in Residence at Grasmere’s Wordsworth Trust and Ryan Van Winkle, Poet in Residence at the Edinburgh City Libraries. Up and coming poets Eunice Buchanan, Jim Carruth, Niall Campbell, Stephanie Green and Mandy Haggith will complete the programme, along with a variety of musicians and singers.

Organiser Stephanie Green said "It is wonderful that so many fantastic poets are supporting our Old MacDonald Had a Farm For Africa Project and in particular that Liz Lochhead herself will be appearing at not one, but two of the events. These readings will be an absolute must for poetry lovers at the Festival."

Musical interludes will be provided by John Sampson, Carole Clarke, Patsy Seddon, Lise Sinclair and Just Voices.

Old MacDonald had a Farm for Africa Project was devised by Makar Liz Lochhead, Scotland’s National Poet and poet Jim Carruth in association with Oxfam to set up a number of farms across Africa, providing communities with livestock and resources to look after them. The twelve-month project aims to found as many farms as possible by the 1st of April, 2013. For more information on the Old MacDonald Project, visit www.justgiving.com/Stephanie-Green6.

Tickets are £10 (£8 concessions) through the Hub box office from their website www.hubtickets.co.uk, email boxoffice@hubtickets.co.uk, telephone 0131 473 2000 or in person from The Hub, Castlehill, Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2NE. Tickets are available on the door but reservations are recommended due to limited seating.

For more information on Poetry in the Persian Tent, visit sites.google.com/site/stephgreen1/poetry-in-the-persian-tent.

For more information on the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, visit

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