Woodstock Poetry Festival review

First, a huge thank you to everyone, poets and audience, who made the second festival go so well. We are planning the third.

We were so grateful that Pam Ayres came to open the festival. The church was full, and she performed brilliantly - her timing was spot-on, her rapport with the audience immediate and excellent. What I love about her work is that she brings poetry to so many people who would normally run a mile at the word 'poetry'. She is witty and acute and warm. She is also a very kind supporter of independent bookshops and festivals.

The rest of the evening was like a local, community version of Pam Ayres - A Funny Way With Words drew in large numbers of people from Charlbury - the book was written and produced there, published by Jon Carpenter. And Kathy Clugston held everything together in the best possible BBC style.

Peter McDonald and Patrick McGuinness in the bookshop gave a totally different reading of their work to a very good audience (including three small boys, one of whom quizzed Patrick McGuinness on his use of a poetic alter-ego), I was very sad to miss the readings by MsCellaneous as I had to collect someone from the station - I heard it went very well and we all ate the cakes all weekend!

Alice Oswald was extraordinary. She asked for the lights to be dimmed, and we sat in the dusk as she recited Memorial - I have had several emails from people who were in the audience, among them -

I wanted to say a huge thank you for bringing Alice to the festival.

It was a magical experience and one that will stay with me always.

 

I wanted to tell you how affected I was by the 'happening' that you 
arranged... I sat ,mesmerized, not conscious of the time, and completely 
beguiled by Alice. Her voice- the sheer astonishment that she could 
recite so much by heart, and by the beauty of her words and poetry.
Loved it and won't forget it.

Julia Copus came next - if anyone could follow Alice Oswald, it was Julia. Quite different, just as powerful. She wrote afterwards, 'What a magical thing the Woodstock Festival is. It is already gathering something of a reputation in the writing world, and deservedly so.'

The New Libertines finished off the evening in style - if you didn't come this year, do try and catch them next year. The term 'performance poetry' might frighten potential audiences into thinking they are going to be faced with alien and terrifyingly trendy stuff, which isn't the case. Not that they aren't trendy, of course, but they are very good poets who are also good at performing their work and, like Pam Ayres, engaging with the audience.

David Morley read on his own on Sunday as Liz Berry couldn't be with us. He talked about John Clare and about Romani language and culture and read from his new book. 

For a detailed account of David Constantine, Sasha Dugdale and Olivia McCannon, see  here. And at the end we went into the Woodstock Arms where Jenny Lewis had organised a pub full of people and sixteen readers - the fire was going, people were drinking and chatting, it was the best possible way of ending the festival.