Published on: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Last updated: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Train journeys in Suffolk will be pure poetry on Thursday (21 March) as poets take over the railway for World Poetry Day.
The East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership has joined forces with Greater Anglia, Waterstones Ipswich and The Cut, Halesworth, to bring six poets to platforms and trains so that everyone can enjoy a poem on the UNESCO international day of celebration.
Starting at Ipswich station from 12.30pm, the poets will perform on the platforms, and then on the 1.17pm train from Ipswich to Lowestoft, alighting at Halesworth, for a performance at The Cut arts centre at 2.30pm.
The poets, all Suffolk-based, include Ipswich’s Irish storyteller Gerry Donlon, subversive surrealist Dan Clark, singer songwriter, Keith Sadler and ukele playing poet, Amy SoapBox.
Amy Wragg, the recently appointed Officer of the East Suffolk Lines, said, “I am delighted to be organising this unique poetry parade on the trains and hope passengers will enjoy it.
“We are very lucky in Suffolk to have many incredible writers and performers and I am grateful to Greater Anglia for literally offering them a platform to share their work.”
Alan Neville, Greater Anglia’s Customer Experience Manager, said, “We are pleased to work with the Community Rail Partnership to bring the local community together in this unusual way. We hope passengers will be surprised and delighted to discover a poem or two on their journeys.”
In the evening, Ipswich Waterstones will present a free spoken word open mic, featuring the best poets, rappers and writers across the region. As Ipswich's only dedicated bookshop, this event will bring together the poetry community from far and wide. With fourteen poets signed up already, there is bound to be poetry to appeal to all. Get in touch with the organiser Meg Burrows via [email protected] if you would like to share a poem on the night.
Meg Burrows comments: “As a bookseller, writer, musician, I meet so many people - customers, poets, lyricists, storytellers alike -who have such a connection with Poetry.
“Words that they read as children, or snippets they have seen on the Underground, or lines in a song – they stay with you, they can have the greatest impact. I also look at how nature and poetry are connected – I think it's wonderful and reminds us of exploring different perspectives.
“Whether it's reading for yourself, using it as a tool to remember things, to document your surroundings, performing to group of people or using it as a creative catapult, it is brilliant. I'm so glad we are holding the Open Mic in store this year, please do come along and share your words with us!"