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Poetry Parnassus

by Rob Mackenzie

Poetry Parnassus begins today at the Southbank Centre, London. By the looks of the online programme, there are many amazing events taking place and I’m only sorry that I’m hundreds of miles away from it all. But, if you’re in the vicinity of London, it must be worth checking out. I note that many big names are taking part, many of them excellent readers who are definitely worth going to see. But, also, poets from all over the world are involved in events, readings and discussions. It’s a chance to hear from a far greater range of voices than you’d get at an average poetry gathering.

If you get along to any events, please let us know what happened and how you found them by commenting below. Then, at least, I will be able to enjoy Poetry Parnassus vicariously, which is better than not at all!

Comments (3)

  1. Discoveries so far:

    Sudanese poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, who read yesterday on the QEH roof garden.. the sort of poet one learns a language to read (his is Arabic). A whole pamphlet’s worth of his poems in Sarah Maguire’s translations are on the Poetry Translation Centre website; see also my blog on this and the amazing Rain of Poems.

    Burmese poet Zeyar Lynn. Politically v interesting, and funny. A poem about owning (or not) one’s own history; another one about beards (google Zeyar Lynn beard poem and it’s there somewhere).

    Hope more people contribute to this, it’s a good idea. Someone write about what happened today (Wednesday) please, I didn’t get to anything.

  2. I went to Alternative Geographies last night, which featured Arab-world poets reading in French and Arabic, with English translations. Really loved this. I speak French so was able to take in those poems fully, and Arabic is such a powerful language that the emotions really transmit – and the translations seemed great. The poets included Venus Khoury-Ghata (Lebanon) and Amina Said (Tunisia), among others. Fantastic – so passionate.

    I’ve written a blog post on this, and there will be more to come on Poetry Parnassus – please have a look!

    http://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/poetry-parnassus-alternative.html

  3. I had too many highlights to name at Poetry Parnassus! A few more included Seamus Heaney, Wole Soyinka, Kim Hyesoon, Bill Manhire and Togara Muzanenhamo at Continental Shift; Ilya Kaminsky’s wild-eyed and passionate reading; Reza Mohammedi’s mesmerizing delivery; Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi’s incredibly beautiful works; Paul Dakeyo at Word From Africa; workshops with Kapka Kassabova and Bill Manhire; bumping into Simon Armitage and getting to thank him for all his work; the Emergency Poet and her ambulance; and more. It was definitely one of my best-ever cultural experiences and I have had many in London that have been brilliant.

    Please have a look at my most recent blog post on Poetry Parnassus – there should still be one or two more, as well!

    http://thestoneandthestar.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/poetry-parnassus-on-friday-and-saturday.html

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