FORMER poet laureate Andrew Motion will be at Farringford, Freshwater, next week.
Andrew is visiting Victorian laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s former home to give readings and workshops as part of the Poetry Society’s centenary celebrations, a year-long programme which also coincides with the 200th anniversary of Tennyson’s birth.
The three-day event will kick off on Tuesday with Exploring Tennyson, an evening of talk and music with local historian and writer Dr Brian Hinton and Island musician Paul Armfield, which starts at 6pm.
On Wednesday, there is a day-long writing workshop with Andrew Motion and Island writer Felicity Fair Thompson, entitled Walking In Tennyson’s Footsteps.
That will be followed by An Evening Of Poetry with Andrew Motion, which starts at 7.30pm.
During the evening, Andrew will give the debut performance of a poem he has written specially about his visit to the Island.
The former poet laureate will also be holding a workshop for Island schoolchildren at Farringford the following day and it is hoped this will inspire entries for the junior section of the new Island Voices poetry competition.
Tickets for both evening readings and for Wednesday’s writing workshop are still available — call Farringford for further details.