Poetry had pride of place at Widnes Library
Poetry had pride of place at Widnes Library on October 6th - National Poetry Day - as Halton's Poetry Reading group was launched.
The Poetry Reading group was one of many events held throughout the UK to celebrate National Poetry day and the group adds to Halton's impressive number of reading groups. For National Poetry Day we also had the Poetry Jukebox website, www.57productions.com/jukebox.php, displayed on the plasma screen in the coffee bar. To involve all ages, three classes from a local school visited the library, hearing poems read aloud, playing poetry games, and even performing poems.
The launch was publicised on the library website, on posters in Widnes Library, and details placed on poetry postcards scattered through Halton Libraries. It took place in the coffee bar - part of the recently refurbished Kingsway Learning Centre - a modern and contemporary setting to discuss twentieth century verse. The atmosphere was very relaxed with each person who attended having the opportunity to talk about their experiences of poetry and reading aloud two of their favourite poems.
The first meeting of the group had an excellent turnout, the group is open to new members and we expect it to grow steadily in number. Members do not have to live in Halton; all are welcome.The group is one of a number of steps taken in the past year to improve the profile of poetry in Halton Libraries. As a result of last year's interest in National Poetry Day, the Poetry Reading group gives people interested in reading and discussing published poems an outlet.
"I felt that poetry had been downtrodden in libraries and bookshops - one retailer has been known to shelve poetry with Mills and Boon - and was delighted at the success of the reading group." said Katy Konrad who organises and runs the group.
Many people when talking about their experiences of poetry said that school had put them off poetry and it was only after leaving school, when they were free to choose what to read, that they developed a fondness for poetry. Each person brought with them two of their favourite poems, these included 'Love Is' by Adrian Henri; 'At Lunchtime a Story Of Love' by Roger Mcgough; 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes, and 'Chocolate cake' by Michael Rosen. This really expresses the range of themes that poetry can have. People attending the launch received a poetry goody bag with the next month's poems, information about the group, poetry postcards, and posters.
The group will discuss four poems on a theme and will meet on the second Thursday of every month from 7-8 pm in Widnes library coffee bar. From 10th November the poems discussed by the group will have a different theme every month - the theme for November is seasons - as poetry is inspired by day to day life, we will never run out of themes. From time to time we will feature guest poets.
For more information, and for copies of this month's poems, contact Katy on 0151 9078383 or katy.konrad@halton.gov.uk
