Canterbury Laureate to Lead Literary Events in Historic Dockyard

Canterbury Laureate 2010, Patience Agbabi, will lead two unmissable events for literature lovers in October at The Historic Dockyard Chatham.  As the dockyard’s first ever ‘Poet in Residence’ she will lead a poetry-writing masterclass and present a truly unique evening recital for National Poetry Day.

Inspired by the surroundings during her residency, Patience Agbabi crafted a seven sonnet corona, where the last line of one becomes the first line of the next and the very first line is identical to the very last.  Entitled ‘Chains’, the collection helps to forge the vital links between The Historic Dockyard’s unique architectural legacy and the voices of those who have helped to shape its incredible 450 year history.

The Poetry Masterclass – ‘Wordsmiths’ - takes place on Saturday 2nd October from 10am to 1pm in the newly refurbished No.1 Smithery, the home to 19th century anchorsmiths.  This interactive workshop will seek to inspire modern ‘wordsmiths’ to craft their own poems, working with Patience to explore the ‘nuts & bolts’ of poetry and to ‘forge’ their very own sonnet inspired by their surroundings. Cost £20.

Unique Poetry Performance.  On Thursday 7th October, National Poetry Day, Patience Agbabi will perform her new work ‘Chains’. This roving recital will see Patience present each sonnet in the location around The Historic Dockyard where it was inspired and/or written, including Commissioner’s House, The Ropery and HMS Gannet. Starting at 7.30pm this unique evening costs £10. For further information or to book call 01634 823814.

For details about The Historic Dockyard see www.thedockyard.co.uk

About the author:

Patience Agbabi is a poet, performer and workshop facilitator. She was born in London in 1965 to Nigerian parents and spent her teenage years living in North Wales. She was educated at Oxford University and has appeared at numerous diverse venues in the UK and abroad.

Primarily a solo performer, Patience Agbabi has read repeatedly at key literature festivals in the UK including the Edinburgh Book Festival and Ledbury Poetry Festival.  Her work has also appeared on television and radio. In 1998 her work was featured on Channel 4's Litpop series and she was commissioned by the BBC to write a poem for the Blue Peter National Children's Poetry Competition in 1999.

An experienced workshop facilitator, Patience Agbabi has completed a number of successful residencies. From January to June 2001, she was Poet-in-Residence at Oxford Brookes University.  In 2005, she was Poet-in-Residence at Eton College, Windsor.

In 2002, she obtained an MA in Creative Writing, the Arts and Education at the University of Sussex in Brighton. She has been Lecturer in Creative Writing at several universities: the University of Greenwich (2002-2003); the University of Wales, Cardiff (2002-2004); and the University of Kent at Canterbury (2004-2005).

Patience Agbabi lives in Gravesend, Kent. In 2004 she was named as one of the Poetry Society's 'Next Generation' poets. Her most recent collection is Bloodshot Monochrome (2008).

Information from: http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth163

Photo courtesy of Matthew Black’s flickrstream