Poetry in Aldeburgh, 2017... and 'Herrings', the Festival Anthology

'I hear those voices that will not be drowned...' (from 'Peter Grimes', Britten) on The Scallop (Hambling)

Poetry in Aldeburgh took place this last weekend, with The Poetry School as the festival's headline partner. There were poetry workshops on the Friday afternoon, followed over the weekend by readings, presentations and collaborations of various kinds. There were walks along the beach, gatherings of friends, books to buy, swarming gulls and, of course, the essential whiff of fish and chips along the Crag Path.

A year ago I was sitting in the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout during the previous festival, enjoying Anne-Marie Fyfe's excellent workshop about the sea, when she told us that there would be a Poetry in Aldeburgh anthology called Herrings, and that we could submit our festival poems.

Fast forward twelve months, and Herrings has not only taken shape as an ocean-blue hardback, thanks to Nancy Warburg Astor and Andrew Hewish, but has now been launched. It has been produced and published by Blue Door Press; and contains 100+ poems, each written by a different poet as a snapshot, not only of Aldeburgh in 2016, but also of the festival itself. 

Internationally renowned and novice poets alike are represented in the volume. It is lovely to have my poem, 'Treasure Hulk', in such diverse company; and thanks are due to all those who created the book and organised the festival. The contributions to Herrings reflect festival visits to, and visions of, this seaside town that owes so much not only to the ocean and its bounty, but also to the influences of artists of various kinds such as Crabbe, Britten, Pears and Hambling.

My haul, Poetry in Aldeburgh, 2017

Herrings, the anthology

The Aldeburgh Beach Lookout

Dusk descends

Looking north

Illuminations

Publicity

Essential sustenance...