Seren/Cornerstone Festival

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Friday Poem – ‘Telling the bees’, Katherine Stansfield

Friday Poem Telling the Bees Katherine Stansfield

This week our Friday Poem is a new work by Katherine Stansfield, ‘Telling the bees’.

‘Telling the bees’ is a touching memorial to Christian Brown OBE, co-founder of the Seren Cornerstone Poetry Festival. The poem weaves together memories with the imagery of a garden in which ‘everything has bloomed’: a legacy of colour and life, conjured by Christian even after his passing.

Christian was the driving force behind the first Seren Cornerstone Poetry Festival in 2018 and as we approach 2019’s festival we are reminded of his extraordinary energy and vision. Cornerstone’s Poet in Residence, Katherine Stansfield will be opening the festival alongside Kim Moore and Emily Blewitt in the Opening Buffet event: tickets available now. All That Was Wood, a pamphlet of poems written during Katherine’s residency, will be published to coincide with the festival.

 

Katherine Stansfield Telling the bees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All That Was Wood will be available in February 2019 from our website, and at the Seren Cornerstone Poetry Festival (8-10 February 2019).

 

 

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Seren/Cornerstone Festival recap – the best bits of our poetry weekend

Seren poetry festival recap

This weekend we co-hosted Cardiff’s first weekend-long poetry festival in the beautiful Cornerstone building, and were thrilled to see so many people enjoying the programme of events.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors: Tidal Lagoon Power, the Rhys Davies Trust, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff. Thanks are also due for all at Cornerstone, who hosted us in their beautiful venue, to our official festival photographer David Hurn, and to the talented line-up of artists and authors who took part: Jonathan Edwards, Paul Henry, Brian Briggs, Philip Gross, Cyril Jones, Damian Walford Davies, Rhian Edwards, Gillian Clarke, Gwyneth Lewis, Richard Gwyn, Clare E. Potter, Susie Wild, Emily Blewitt, Katherine Stansfield, Stephen Payne, David Foster-Morgan, The Spoke, Little Rêd, Robert Minhinnick.

The mix of events combined spectacular poetry readings, beautiful music and thought-provoking film. Take a look at the slideshow below, where we have brought together photographs taken by the wonderful David Hurn, by Cornerstone photographer Chas Breton and by Seren’s Marketing Officer Rosie Johns.

 

 

 

What about next year, we hear you ask? Will the festival return? Well, we’re pleased to say that we are already thinking about it…

 

 

 

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Opening Night at the Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival

Seren/Cornerstone poetry festival Cardiff

Good morning poetry lovers! Today’s the day we launch our inaugural poetry festival in the beautiful Cornerstone building on Charles Street, Cardiff.

So what can you look forward to, and how can you get tickets? All the important information is below…

Cornerstone Seren poetry festival
Festival venue: The Cornerstone building, Charles Street, Cardiff, CF10 2GA


Jonathan Edwards poet7:00pm: Jonathan Edwards, Welcome Buffet
Jonathan Edwards will open the festival with the Welcome Buffet event – listen to readings from Edwards’ Costa Prize-winning collection My Family and Other Superheroes plus new material while you enjoy a selection of food from the on-site Pantry Café.
£7 – For tickets contact Lucy King: 07445 816617
(booking recommended)

 

The Glass Aisle Paul Henry Brian Briggs8:30pm: ‘The Glass Aisle’: Paul Henry & Brian Briggs
Poet Paul Henry and singer/songwriter Brian Briggs perform their remarkable poetry & music collaboration at 8:30pm, with songs inspired by a stretch of the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal. This event also launches Henry’s book of the same name.
£10 – For tickets contact Lucy King: 07445 816617
(booking recommended)

 

The full festival brochure, with details of all the weekend’s events, is available to view & download on the festival website: http://rcadc.org/seren-poetry-2018/

Online ticketing has now ended but tickets can still be pre-booked over the phone. Contact Lucy King: 07445 816617

Tickets will also be available to buy on the door, but to guarantee your place pre-booking is advised (in particular for the food events)

 

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Friday Poem – ‘Two men’, David Foster-Morgan

Friday Poem Two men David Foster-Morgan

This week our Friday Poem is David Foster-Morgan’s ‘Two men’, from his debut collection, Masculine Happiness.

Masculine happinessDavid is one of five fabulous poets taking part in the New Poets Showcase event, Saturday 17 February, 11:00am. Listen to him read alongside Emily Blewitt, Susie Wild, Katherine Stansfield and Stephen Payne – tickets available here (£5.00). The event is part of our inaugural Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival.

Masculine Happiness is a provocative yet subtle collection which explores the author’s ambivalence towards models of masculinity handed out to us by the media and modern society. There is also a considerable amount of humour here, along with astute satire and insightful character poems. Foster-Morgan’s work repays the careful attention of thoughtful readers.

 

David Foster-Morgan Two men

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masculine Happiness is available on the Seren website: £9.99

Join our free Book Club for 20% off every book you buy from us.

 

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The Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival: what to look forward to

Seren Cornerstone Poetry Festival

Our ‘winter weekend’ of poetry events, the Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival, kicks off in less than three weeks. Here’s what to look forward to, and where to buy tickets.

Today only – get your three-day festival pass for only £90! (£100 from 1st February).

 

Jonathan Edwards poetFood and poetry: welcome buffet with Jonathan Edwards
Friday 16 February, 19:00
£7.00 – Book now.

 

The Glass Aisle Paul Henry Brian Briggs

The Glass Aisle: music and poetry with Paul Henry & Brian Briggs
Friday 16 February, 20:30
£10.00 – Book now.

 

New Poets Showcase

Fresh voices: New Poets Showcase
Saturday 17 February, 11:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

Philip Gross Valerie PriceA Fold in the River; Turnings/Troeon: Philip Gross, Valerie Price, Cyril Jones
Saturday 17 February, 12:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

JudasDamian Walford Davies: Damian Walford Davies
Saturday 17 February, 13:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

 

Film & Fiction: ‘Diary of the Last Man’, Robert Minhinnick
Saturday 17 February, 14:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

The Other Tiger Richard ClareLatin American Poetry: Richard Gwyn & Clare E. Potter
Saturday 17 February, 15:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

Afternoon Tea Gwyneth LewisAfternoon Tea & Desert Island Poems with Gwyneth Lewis
Saturday 17 February, 16:00
£20.00 – Book now.

 

Dai George Gwyneth LewisGenerations: Gwyneth Lewis meets Dai George
Saturday 17 February, 18:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

Rhian EdwardsPoetry & Art: Brood by Rhian Edwards
Saturday 17 February, 19:00
£5.00 – Book now.

 

The Spoke poetry group‘The Spoke’: Poetry & Music with Little Red
Saturday 17 February, 20:00
£10.00 – Book now.

 

Sunday Lunch with Gillian Clarke
Sunday 18 February, 13:00
£20.00 – Book now.

 

We hope you enjoy our poetry-filled Cardiff weekend. Find the full programme on the festival website, and book your tickets before they sell out.

 

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Friday Poem – ‘Building my Grandfather’, Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards Friday Poem Building my Grandfather

Next month, Costa-winning poet Jonathan Edwards opens our Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival in Cardiff. Our Friday Poem, ‘Building my Grandfather’, is taken from his award-winning collection, My Family and Other Superheroes, which he will read from at the festival event, along with never-before heard new material.

my family and other superheroes jonathan edwardsMy Family and Other Superheroes is a vibrant, joyful and celebratory collection of quirky family portraits, working-class Welshness, pop culture and surrealism. Winner of the Costa Poetry Prize 2014, Edwards’ quirky and confessional poems harbour a motley crew: Evel Knievel, Sophia Loren, Ian Rush, Marty McFly, a bicycling nun and a recalcitrant hippo all leap from these pages and jostle for position, alongside valleys mams, dads and bamps, all described with great warmth.
You can hear Jonathan read on Friday 16 February at Cornerstone, Cardiff, as part of the Seren/Cornerstone Poetry Festival. Tickets for the event are £7 and include a buffet of food from the Pantry café. Book now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Family and Other Superheroes is available from the Seren website: £9.99

Join our free Book Club for 20% off every book you buy from us.