National Poetry Day
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Poetry is not dead: Bath Spa University celebrates National Poetry Day live on air
Monday, 9 October, 2023Last week, Bath Spa University celebrated National Poetry Day (5 October), inviting poets from across the University to share their poetry and highlighting its community of powerful creative voices.
The University, renowned for its creative writing courses, has a strong record of producing professional poets. With former students touring the UK and making names for themselves at events across the country, you do not have to look far to find passionate poets at Bath Spa.
Dr Lucy English, Professor of Creative Enterprise and The Spoken Word at Bath Spa University and co-director of the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival went live on two radio stations last week in recognition of National Poetry Day to talk about the power of poetry and its role at Bath Spa.
Lucy kicked off the afternoon by joining Radio Bath, where she put rumours regarding the decline of poetry among young adults to bed, confirming it is still alive and well at Bath Spa. She said:
“I really think young people have opened their hearts to poetry. We've got some wonderful poets on campus who do incredible things in the city of Bath.”
From slam poetry nights to the famous Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival, co-directed by Lucy and MA Transnational Writing alum Danny ‘Craft-D’ Pandolfi, there are a host of opportunities for students to get involved with.
Alongside colleague, Professor of Poetry Tim Liardet, Lucy runs The University Poetry Hub. An embodiment of the University’s dedication to its poetic community, its goal is to ‘promote poetic literacy, to support and empower emerging and established poets, and to bring the best practitioners of the craft into the community.’
New student-led opportunities are constantly born from the Poetry Hub. As Lucy told BBC Radio Bristol:
“There’s lots of things happening that the students can get involved with. They run poetry nights in Bath and are very much connected with the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival. Tim Liardet is going to be starting up a new poetry reading series. There's going to be lots of poets reading in the spring, sponsored by the University, and I encourage the students to take part.
“The winner of last year’s poetry slam was one of my students, Emma Taylor. She's now gone on to organise a poetry night on campus. So, it's lovely to see all sorts of poets developing careers for themselves.”
By bringing people together to share their work, Bath Spa celebrates the power of poetry every day of the year. However, National Poetry Day brings attention to poetry’s ability to explore individual identity and the identity of others. Explaining this to BBC Radio Bristol presenter, Claire Carter, Lucy said:
“People turn to poetry at points of high emotion. Poetry is often about love. It’s read at weddings, funerals, places like that. So, I say to my students, write about what's important to you. Write about your life. What do you love?
“Poetry can give words to complicated emotions. Sometimes we feel things we can't even describe. And you'll read a poem and think it describes what you’re feeling perfectly.”
You can listen to the full interviews on the BBC Radio Bristol and Radio Bath channels.