We’re heading to Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry festival this weekend to deliver an exciting programme of new work, open submissions and some special commissions we’ve been working on with The Poetry Society.
“An evening of poetry films at the Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival, curated and introduced by Alastair Cook of Filmpoem. Films will include those commissioned by The Poetry Society for the winning poems of the National Poetry Competition.”
Also, director of the Poetry Society Judith Palmer will introduce the premier of their new commission, The Big Push. Written and read by John Glenday, animated by Xin Li and directed by Laurie Harris & Xin Li, this film has been commissioned to mark the centenary of the First World War. The Big Push is a response to a 1916 painting, ‘the Eve of the Battle of the Somme’ by Scottish artist Herbert James Gunn. Gunn served in the Artists Rifles, and painted in situ in Northern France, the day before the bloodiest day of the War. His surprising painting of young soldiers swimming drowsily in the sunlight is a pictorial anthem to doomed youth. “Spiritually, it’s a painting about crossing a threshold between worlds,” says Glenday.
This event is free Saturday 11th July, 7.00pm – 9.00pm at The Shakespeare Centre, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6QW