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Congratulations Ade Couper – the new Worcestershire Poet Laureate

Four finalists battled for the laureateship yesterday and the judges reported a tough decision, but the one they made was fitting. Ade Couper delivered two splendid poems which set him up for a year as Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2021-2022.

Many congratulations, Ade.

Also, congratulations to all the successful Young Writers who entered the WLF Young Writer competition – many of their stories were read out and enjoyed by so many. They were lucky to have the good offices of Kevin Brooke, the Worcestershire LitFest & Fringe Youth Ambassador to introduce them to the competition and support them while entering.

Ade Couper

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Betti Moretti–Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2018

Betti Moretti–WPL 2018

Betti accepts her WPL trophy—Photo courtesy of Catherine Crosswell

Our new Worcestershire Poet Laureate (WPL) Betti Moretti. Congratulations to Betti and commiserations to the runners up Sarah Leavesley and Peter Sutton—a whisker between the three of them—we had a marvellous afternoon when Worcestershire LitFest & Fringe launched the 8th Worcestershire Literary Festival.

Nina and Betti have fun with WPL trophy

Betti ‘struggles’ to get her trophy from outgoing WPL Nina Lewis—what fun!—Photo courtesy of Catherine Crosswell


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Letter Writing in the Moonlight

Beneath the apple tree
all is still.
Night, as dark as her lover,
veils the lush grass;
bramble and thistle
scratch, inscribe the ground.

A mist hovers,
loathe to leave the river,
low down in the depths of the garden
where mud oozes
and the odour of damp
settles.

The bench is warm,
as graffitied as her heart.
Love holds her
like the mist—all pervasive—
toads and crickets mock,
‘Write’.

A moonbeam strikes
through cloud.
Clouds steal onwards
and soon the lawn
is shown in a puddle of silver light.
She puts pen to paper.

Polly Stretton © 2018

Written for and first published in the Worcestershire Poet Laureate Nina Lewis’s project: A Tale Of Two Cities, Contour eZine issue 3   With thanks to my collaborator, Beth Sweeney, who responded with a poem of her own, which you can see in the publication.


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Congratulations Nina Lewis Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2017

The climax to the seventh Worcestershire Literary Festival was the crowning of our new Worcestershire Poet Laureate Nina Lewis. The opening night was magical with readings from young writers, from the Flash Fiction winner Christine Griffin, plus an ultra-cool compere in Poet with Punch Matt Windle.

Nina

Nina Lewis

Laureate finalists Damon Lord and Louise Reeder wowed us with their words. Damon gave an impressive performance and Louise’s second poem was emotional, heartbreakingly beautiful.

Nina told the Worcester audience that as Laureate she would wish to build on the legacy of past Laureates. She has a passion for promoting poetry and experience in organising poetry events independently and for festivals, and she’d endeavour to raise awareness of  local talents while her overarching theme is to get people connecting with poetry.

Congratulations to Louise and Damon for their achievements. Mega-congratulations to Nina, Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2017!

PL

Suz Winspear outgoing Worcestershire Poet Laureate hands over to Nina Lewis watched by the Chair of the judging panel, County Arts Officer Steve Wilson