Festival Archive

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TEARS IN THE FENCE FESTIVAL 2023

The annual Tears in the Fence Festival will be on 15th – 17th September 2023 at the Stourpaine Village Hall. This year’s title / theme is ‘Permacrisis, Reconciliation and Survival’. There will be readings, talks, discussion, tributes, book signings, music, refreshments and a Festival bookstall.

We look forward to welcoming back old friends and making new ones. We advise booking accommodation early as demand will be high.

BOOKINGS
Festival Weekend tickets are £60
Festival Friday tickets are £15
Festival Saturday tickets are £15 each session or £45 for the day Festival Sunday tickets are £15

Ploughman’s Meal £6

Please book on the pay / subscribe / donate page. Click on the Subscription menu and select your option and pay through the Donate button at the bottom of the page.

Festival programme

Friday 15^th September 2023 from 6.00 pm

Evening Session: 7:20 – 9:30 pm

Host: Gerald Killingworth

Tributes to Carla Scarano, Gavin Selerie, Alan Halsey, Jonty Driver

Open Readings: Barry Smith, Caroline Maldonado, Andrew Henon, Valerie Bridge, Jeremy Hilton

Featured Poets: Sian Thomas, Janet Hancock, Tim Allen

Saturday 16^th September 2023 from 9.00 am

Morning Session: 10:30 -12:30 pm

Host: Morag Kiziewicz

Festival address: Richard Foreman

Open Readings: Paul Matthews, Tilla Brading, Richard Foreman, Lou Rowan

Featured Poets: Lesley Burt, Maria Stadnicka, Andrew Duncan

Lunch: 12:30 – 2:30 pm

Authentic Italian Pizza & Pasta salad buffet served by Gia (not included in conference fee) with vegan, vegetarian and other options.

Music: 1:45 – 2:30 pm with Phil Gravett

Afternoon Session: 2:30 – 5:30 pm

Host: Simon Collings

Open Readings: Linda Collins, Aidan Semmens, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani, Norman Jope, Penny Hope

A celebration of the poetry of Harriet Tarlo

Zoê Skoulding in conversation with Harriet Tarlo

Followed by a reading by Harriet Tarlo

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A short tribute to Maurice Scully prepared by Will Fleming

Featured Poet: Zoë Skoulding

Festival Talk on the poetry of water: David Caddy and Carol Watts in conversation followed by discussion

Featured Poet: Carol Watts

Evening Session: 7: 30 – 9:30 pm

Ploughman’s Lunch. We will be providing a ploughman’s lunch and other refreshments during the weekend. Please book your ploughman’s through the website. The price is £6. There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Please bring your own wine. Glasses provided.

Host: Andrew Henon

Open Readings: Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Linda Black, Paul Rossiter, Simon Collings, David Caddy

Featured Poets by Iris Colomb, Charles Wilkinson, Louise Buchler

Sunday 17^th September 2023 from 9.00 am

Morning Session: 10: 30 – 12: 30 pm

Host: David Caddy

Open Readings: Gerald Killingworth, Morag Kiziewicz, Lucy Ingrams, John Freeman, Nancy Gaffield

Featured Poets: Olivia Tuck, Steve Spence, Beth Davyson

Closing remarks:

Post-Festival walk up Hod Hill from the White Horse

Festival Bursaries are available as part of our social inclusion policy.

BAME writers and poets, writers on no/low income, working class writers, writers from areas of rural or coastal deprivation, writers who have experienced homelessness, refugee writers, writers in the LGBTQ+ communities, writers who have survived abuse, disabled writers, neurodivergent writers, and writers with chronic health conditions. Please email tearsinthefence@gmail.com with the subject ‘Tears in the fence festival’ to apply for a free pass to all sessions. These will be issued on a first come, first serve basis.

Two more bursaries have been kindly donated. We look forward to issuing them.

OPEN READINGS
We welcome everyone who wishes to read at the Festival. Open readings are available on a first come first served basis. We will aim to accommodate everyone that wishes to participate. Please book as soon as possible so that we can allocate reading slots and timings. Many thanks.

BOOKSTALL
There will be a Festival bookstall. Please bring your books, pamphlets and magazines. Lists of Bookstall items with quantities, book titles and prices should be emailed in advance to Richard Foreman at richeff1@talktalk.net as soon as possible.

ACCOMMODATION
There are a considerable number of guest houses and B&Bs in and around Stourpaine, Durweston and Blandford Forum. We recommend using Airbnb and the search engines available at booking.com, laterooms.com and trivago.co.uk. Our nearest local hotels are the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Royal Chase Hotel, Shaftesbury and King’s Head Hotel, Wimborne Minster. Please book early as accommodation gets booked out quickly in this area of outstanding natural beauty. Apparently some places are already fully booked. There are a number of glamping sites nearby including the Island by Durweston Mill at Durweston.

TRANSPORT There is very limited local public transport on Friday and none at the weekend and so we encourage Festival goers to share taxis and offer lifts to help transport between the venue and accommodation.

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TEARS IN THE FENCE FESTIVAL 2022

This year’s annual poetry Festival will be on 2nd – 4th September 2022 at the Stourpaine Village Hall. The Festival theme / title this year is ‘Bewilderment / Be-wildered / Be wild’. There will be readings, talks, discussion, book signings, music, refreshments and a Festival bookstall.

Bewilderment. Let us acknowledge that we are confused and uncertain, befuddled and bemused by many astonishments. Poets, sensitive people, all are bewildered, finding words to mine, express and share the effect of the startling and disconcerting times we are in, fumbling in our bemused ways into the light. Climate change, with the long predicted global conflicts, resource issues and movement of people and boundaries, is requiring inner change, ancestral knowing. Many are finding ways of expressing this through poetry.

Tears in the Fence’s long tradition of being open to human issues and concerns and of being forward-looking in relation to current developments within world poetry, often publishes poetry that explores Re-wilding as one way to address some of the impacts we are encountering. Be wild. Reconnect with nature. Be wilder in our minds and thoughts, break free from mediated pathways. Tears in the Fence, believing in difference and the other, admiring tradition and experiment, encourages localised and wider, divergent reading. With the freedom of plants finding their way to the light we encourage you to join us as we attempt to explore the uncharted hinterland, comb the landscape, reveal its perpetual truth.

Festival programme

Friday, 2^nd September 2022 from 6.00 pm

Evening session 7.30 – 9.30 pm

Host: Gerald Killingworth

Open readers: Ben Larner, Grace Gauld, Janet Hancock, Valerie Bridge, Mandy Pannett

Featured poets: Chaucer Cameron, Morag Kiziewicz, Jessica Mookherjee

Saturday, 3^rd September 2022 from 9.00 am

Morning session 10.30 am

Host: Andrew Henon

Festival address: Morag Kiziewicz

Open readers: Siân Thomas, Moyra Tourlamain, Kathleen McPhilemy, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani

Featured poets: Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Penny Hope, Linda Black

Lunch 12.30 – 2.30 pm

Bakerman Dan the Pizza Man will be serving authentic Italian pizzas to order during the lunch break

Music: 1.50 – 2.30 pm with Phil Gravett

Afternoon session 2.30 – 5.30 pm

Host: David Caddy

Open readers: Simon Collings, Alun Hughes, Sarah Watkinson, Jeremy Hilton

A celebration of the poetry of Francis Presley

Frances Presley in conversation with Harriet Tarlo

followed by a reading by Francis Presley

Featured poets: Harriet Tarlo

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Festival Talk: Peter Larkin on Rewilding the Expressive; a Poetic Strategy

Discussion

Supper 5.30 – 7.30 pm Ploughman’s Lunches and Wine. We will be providing a cheese ploughman’s lunch on Saturday and other refreshments at the village hall throughout the weekend. Please email if you wish to book a ploughman’s so that we can cater for everyone. The price is £6 and there are vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.

Evening session 7.30 – 9.30 pm

Host: Morag Kiziewicz

Open readers: Ama Bolton, Carla Scarano, Richard Foreman, Charles Wilkinson

Featured poets: David Caddy, Gerald Killingworth, Ian Seed

Sunday, 4^th September from 9.00 am

Morning session: 10.30 am – 12.30 pm

Host: David Caddy

Open Readers: Tilla Brading, Andrew Henon, Beth Davyson, Carol Watts

Featured poets: Karen Downs-Barton, Joanna Nissel, Jennifer K. Dick

Closing remarks

Post-Festival walk up Hod Hill

BOOKINGS

Festival Weekend tickets are £60

Festival Thursday ticket £15
Festival Friday tickets are £15
Festival Saturday tickets are £15 each session or £45 for the day Festival Sunday tickets are £15

Please book on the pay / subscribe / donate page. Click on the Subscription menu and select your option and pay through the Donate button at the bottom of the page.

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Here is a recording of the Thursday, 2nd September 2021 Festival event featuring Hosts: David Caddy, Simon Collings. Technical Host: Joanna Nissel. Readings by Abigail Chabitnoy, Vahni Capildeo, Rae Armantrout and Maurice Scully

TEARS IN THE FENCE FESTIVAL 2021

This years’s Festival entitled Digging Deeper: Roots and Remains will be on Zoom on 2nd September 2021 and at the Stourpaine Village Hall, Stourpaine, Dorset, on 3rd – 5th September 2021. There will be featured readers, open reading sessions, music, videos, talks, discussion, book signings and a Festival bookstall.

Thursday, 2^nd September from 6.30 pm via Zoom (this event is Zoom only)

Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

Hosts: Simon Collings, David Caddy

Readings by Abigail Chabitnoy, Vahni Capildeo, Maurice Scully, Rae Armantrout

Friday, 3^rd September from 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm

Host: Gerald Killingworth

Open Readers: Paul Matthews, Melanie Ann Vance, Morag Kiziewicz, Valerie Bridge

A Celebration of the poetry of Chris Torrance 1941-2021

Featured Poets: Mandy Pannett, Jeremy Hilton, Elisabeth Bletsoe

Saturday, 4^th September from 9.00 am

Morning session from 10.30 am

Festival address: David Caddy Host: Richard Foreman

Open Readers: Olivia Tuck, Janet Hancock, Carla Scarano

Talk by Simon Collings on Rae Armantrout

Featured Poets: Sarah Cave, Luke Thompson

Lunch 12.30 – 2.30 pm Gia’s Artisan Italian Pizzas will be available from 1.00 – 2.30 pm from the Box Pizza at the playing fields.

Afternoon Session 2.30 – 5.30 pm

Host: David Caddy

Open Readers: Patrick Ingram, Simon Collings,

A celebration of the poetry of Carol Watts.

Harriet Tarlo in conversation with Carol Watts, followed by a reading by Carol Watts

Break

Readings by Sarah Watkinson and Harriet Tarlo

A panel discussion and Q & A featuring Sarah Watkinson, Harriet Tarlo and Carol Watts

Supper 5.30 – 7.30 pm: Ploughman’s Lunches and Wine. Ploughman’s Lunch at the Hall. A choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals at £5 each. Please book in advance to help the catering team and pay through the Donate button. A selection of red and white wines will also be available. The White Horse is holding a Steam-Up and will have bar snacks but no restaurant meals.

Evening Session: 7.30 – 9.30 pm

Host: Andrew Henon

Open Readers: Aidan Semmens, David Caddy, Charles Wilkinson,

Featured Poets: Mélisande Fitzsimons, Sascha Akhtar, Luke Kennard

Sunday, 5^th September from 9.00 am

Morning Session: 10.30 am

Host: Morag Kiziewicz

Open Readers: Lesley Burt, Andrew Henon, Richard Foreman, Gerald Killingworth,

Featured Poets: Fawzia Kane, John Freeman, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani

Closing Remarks:

Tidy and leave hall by 1.30 pm

The village hall has very good ventilation. Seating will be spread across the hall. There will be plenty of hand sanitiser available. Please wear a mask if it seems appropriate when moving around. People are welcome to bring their own food. Refreshments will be served from the kitchen. We will have some lateral flow testing kits available for anyone who develops Covid symptoms or wishes to take a test. Please do not attend if you test positive prior to travelling to the Festival.

Festival Bursaries are available as part of our social inclusion policy.

BOOKINGS
Festival Weekend tickets are £60

Festival Thursday ticket £15
Festival Friday tickets are £15
Festival Saturday tickets are £45
Festival Sunday tickets are £15

Please book on the pay / subscribe / donate page. Click on the Subscription menu and select your option and pay through the Donate button at the bottom of the page.

FOOD

We will be providing a cheese ploughman’s lunch on Saturday and other refreshments at the village hall throughout the weekend. Please email if you wish to book a ploughman’s so that we can cater for everyone. It is very important to book as the nearest alternatives are some miles away. This year the White House is hosting a Steam-Up with steam traction engines on Saturday, 4th September, and will be having outdoor food plus bar snacks.

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The Imperial Consequences session hosted by Maria Stadnicka featuring readings by Dzifa Benson, Aidan Semmens and Sascha Akhtar. Introduction by David Caddy with John Kinsella.

The Solitude in the Time of Strangeness session hosted by Andrew Henon featuring Rachael Clyne, Tina Goncalves, Jess Mookherjee and David Caddy.

The Environmental Poetry Session hosted by David Caddy featuring John Freeman speaking on Shelley’s animism and ecology, discussion and readings by Molly Vogel, Mandy Haggith, John Freeman and Harriet Tarlo.

The Migration, Exile and Place Session hosted by Sarah Acton with featured readings by Hari Marini, L. Kiew, Rethabile Masilo and Maria Stadnicka.

The Multilingual Poetry Session hosted by David Caddy with featured readings by Rhea Seren Phillips, Beth Davyson and Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani.

The Depolarisation session recording hosted by Simon Collings, featuring a talk by Andrew Duncan on Depolarisation, discussion with Gavin Selerie, readings by Geraldine Monk, Gavin Selerie and Andrew Duncan, a conversation between Simon Collings and Allen Fisher about Gravity as a consequence of shape, followed by Allen’s reading from the work.

Welcome to the 2020 Tears in the Fence Festival.

This year’s Festival is on 10th to 13th September via Zoom Video Conferencing.

The Tears in the Fence Festival has a long history back to the 1990s and has always attempted to showcase a range of alternative voices associated with the magazine and workshop group. Each themed event stems from the issues of the day and attempts to continue conversations from the previous Festival. The Festival consists of readings, discussions, conversations, and is a gathering of friends and an opportunity to make new friends. Previous themes have included ‘Difference and the Other’, ‘Visionaries and Outsiders’, ‘Hidden Connections’ and ‘The Politics of Engagement’. This year’s theme in the shadow of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter is ‘Lost Connections: Light and Darkness’.

There will be sessions around migration, environmental, multilingual, intergenerational, colonial issues as well as the solitudes and vicissitudes of lockdown. There will be talks, videos, conversations with celebrated poets and the opportunity to question readers and panellists. Above all, there will be stimulating readings and conversations. We shall also be using breakout rooms for further late night social discussions.

Amongst our guests will be Sascha Akhtar, Dzifa Benson, Sarah Cave, Simon Collings, Rachael Clyne, Beth Davyson, Jennifer K. Dick, Andrew Duncan, Allen Fisher, John Freeman, Cora Greenhill, Mandy Haggith, L. Kiew, Hari Marini, Rethabile Masilo, Geraldine Monk, Jessica Mookherjee, Joanna Nissel, Rhea Seren Phillips, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani, Gavin Selerie, Aidan Semmens, Maria Stadnicka, Cherry Smyth, Harriet Tarlo, Olivia Tuck, Molly Vogel, plus surprise.

The Festival is a fundraiser for a future physical event at the Stourpaine Village Hall, provisionally in May 2021.

We suggest donations of £7.50 per session and £35 for the whole Festival. These can be made on the magazine’s website through the Donate button on the Subscribe / Donate page.

Please book by midnight, Wednesday, 9th September to avoid disappointment. Late bookings are possible but time is running out. Festival bursaries are still available.

2020 FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Thursday, 10th September

7.00 pm Welcome: David Caddy
Video showing

Evening Session: Imperial Consequences, racism and equality
Host: Maria Stadnicka Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

Conversation and readings by Dzifa Benson, Aidan Semmens and Sascha Akhtar
Q & A

Approximately 9.00 pm Breakout rooms for further conversation

Friday, 11th September

Afternoon Session: Attachment and Patriarchy (Our poets explore power and gender dynamics through close and lost familial relationships, and the institutional mis-telling of women’s stories.)

3.00 pm Host: Morag Kiziewicz Technical Host: Maria Stadnicka

Conversation and readings by Sarah Cave, Joanna Nissel, Olivia Tuck and Cora Greenhill

Q & A

Close by 5.30 pm

Evening Session: Depolarisation
7.00 pm Host: Simon Collings Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

A Talk on Depolarisation by Andrew Duncan followed by 20 minutes Q & A

Readings by Andrew Duncan, Gavin Selerie and Geraldine Monk

Comfort break / informal chat

A Conversation on Gravity as a consequence as shape between Allen Fisher and Simon Collings followed by Allen Fisher reading

Q & A with Allen

Breakout rooms for further conversation and cocktails.

Saturday, 12th September

Morning Session: Migration, Exile and Place
10.00 am Host: Sarah Acton Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

Conversation and readings by Hari Marini, L. Kiew, Rethabile Masilo, and Maria Stadnicka

Q & A Finish by 1.00 pm

Afternoon Session: Solitude in the time of Strangeness
3.00 pm Host: Andrew Henon Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

Conversation and readings by Rachael Clyne, Tina Goncalves, Jessica Mookherjee and David Caddy

Q & A

Finish by 6.00 pm

Evening Session: Multilingual Poetry
7.30 pm Host: David Caddy Technical Host: Joanna Nissel

Conversation and readings by Jennifer K. Dick, Beth Davyson, Rhea Seren Phillips and Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani

Q&A

Breakout rooms for further conversation and real ale

Sunday, 13th September

Morning Session: Environmental Poetry
10.30 am Host: David Caddy

Conversation around John Freeman’s talk on Shelley’s Animism and Ecology.

Q & A

Ten minute comfort break

Readings by Molly Vogel, Mandy Haggith, John Freeman and Harriet Tarlo

Q & A

Plenary
Video showing and closing comments

Approximately 1.00 pm Breakout rooms for lunch and drinks

We shall be evaluating the Festival through a participants questionnaire in an attempt to improve future events. This will be sent to every participant. Please respond to the survey so that we can improve the event.

The breakout rooms will be named after pubs, such as the Shelley Arms, Molly Bloom, White Horse, etc.

SOCIAL INCLUSION

Tears in the Fence encourages social inclusion and welcomes under-represented poets and writers to attend this year’s festival. 15 free bursaries are on offer to anyone who might not otherwise be able to attend. These may be any of the following:

Please email tearsinthefence@gmail.com with the subject ‘2020 Festival Bursary’ to apply for a free pass to all festival events. These will be issued on a first come, first serve basis.

Step-by-Step For Audience Members:

1. AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF THE SESSION: Click the link to the session and log in.
2. The festival team will let you in once all speakers and moderators are ready.
3. Sit back and enjoy the session! You will be muted while the readings take place.
4. If you have any tech support needs, a member of the festival team will be on-hand to help. Please message them using the chat.
5. Feel free to use the chat function to share phrases you’ve enjoyed, questions or points of discussion. If you wish to clap, you will likely be muted but you can clap on video or use the reactions button to send a clapping emoji.
6. When the Q&A and discussion begin, your mic will be unmuted and the Host will direct discussion to ensure it progresses in an orderly fashion.
7. After the formal session, there will be a more informal discussion, which is for you to chat with other participants about the session or anything else. This will be less moderated but a member of the festival team will still be present. This is optional.

FAQ / Other Info:

After-Session Breakouts – And what did I hear about a pub?
After most sessions, the Zoom room will be kept open for more informal discussion. Catch up with people you know, continue the discussions from the session, or meet new friends. Since there will be lots of people in the original Zoom room, it is very hard to facilitate discussion. Therefore we will have a series of breakout rooms to allow for groups of 2-6, where you can chat properly. At least one of these will be named after our usual host, The White Horse pub at Stourpaine, Dorset.

You may be randomly assigned to a room (or pub) or you will have the option of messaging technical support on the chat to ask to be put into a particular breakout room / pub, or to have a certain group of people assigned to a breakout room. Depending on the complexity of the requests for different groups, we may need to swap rooms around at intervals.

Whether or not to appear on camera:
As an audience member, it is entirely up to you whether you keep your camera on. It can result in a far more personal/friendly session if you have your camera on, but this can also cause screen fatigue so please feel free to turn your camera off at intervals or entirely.

Screen Name:
Please include your full name (or surname as initial) as your display name, as this will help people recognise who is part of the festival team.

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2019 FESTIVAL PROGAMME

Friday, 20th September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 6.00 pm – 10.00 pm

7.25 pm Welcome: David Caddy
7.30 pm MC: Gerald Killingworth

Open Readers: Edward Aldous, Rosie Barrett, David Andrew, Veronica Aaronson, Aidan Semmens, Morag Kiziewicz,

Featured poets: Paul Matthews, Jasmina Bolfek Radovani Mina Ray, Simon Collings

Saturday, 21st September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 9.00 am – 10.00 pm
Morning session 9.30 am to 12.30 pm

10.00 am Festival Address by Maria Stadnicka
MC: Morag Kiziewicz, Maria Stadnicka

A Celebration of the poetry of Jay Ramsay
Panel Discussion with Paul Matthews, Mandy Pannett and Maria Stadnicka
with Questions and Answers.

Selected readings from and for Jay from the floor. One poem or extract per reader.
Please let me know if you wish to participate.

Sarah Connor, Lucia Daramus, Charles Hadfield, Morag Kiziewicz, Sian Thomas, will be contributing.

Featured poets: Jessica Mookherjee, Mandy Pannett, Charles Wilkinson

Lunch 12.30 to 2.15 pm Ploughman’s lunch available please book in advance, indicating whether a vegetarian option is required. The cost is £5.

Afternoon Session 2.15 to 5.30 pm

MC: Andrew Henon Music by Phil Gravett

Open Readers: Sheila Aldous, Janet Hancock, Hélène Demetriades, Hannah Miller, Mark Dickinson, Claire Crowther

Talk: Andrew Duncan on ‘Acquiring and losing assets in poetry’ Discussion.

Featured poets: Maria Jastrzębska, Peter J. King, Sophie Herxheimer

Supper 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Evening Session 7.30 to 9.30 pm

MC: David Caddy
Open Readers: Charles Hadfield, Linda Black, Andrew Henon, Paul Rossiter, Sarah Connor, Sarah Cave

Featured poets: Richard Foreman ‘Stirred in dreams’, Alison Winch, Simon Collings in conversation with Peter Larkin, Peter Larkin.

Sunday, 22nd September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 9.00 am – 1.00 pm

Morning Session 9.30 – 12.30 pm

MC: David Caddy
Open Readers: Gerald Killingworth, Mark Goodwin, L.Kiew, Julia Archer, Jonathan Chant, Joanna Nissel, Maria Stadnicka

Featured Poets: Andrew Duncan, Nancy Gaffield, Tim Allen

Closing Remarks: Andrew Henon

Tidy and leave hall by 1.30 pm

During the Festival Maria Stadnicka and David Caddy will be holding occasional impromptu and informal conversations / interviews with various poets in between the reading sessions.

Post Festival walk to Hod Hill leaving the White Horse at 3.00 pm

ACCOMMODATION
There are a considerable number of guest houses and B&Bs in and around Stourpaine and Blandford Forum. We recommend using Airbnb and the search engines available at booking.com, laterooms.com and trivago.co.uk. Our nearest local hotels are the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Royal Chase Hotel, Shaftesbury and King’s Head Hotel, Wimborne Minster. Please book early as accommodation gets booked out quickly in this area of outstanding natural beauty.

BOOKINGS
Festival Weekend tickets are £35
Festival Friday tickets are £15
Festival Saturday tickets are £25
Festival Sunday tickets are £15

Please book through the magazine’s website. Go to the Subscribe / Donate page from the menu and pay through the Donate button.

Please book Friday supper, Saturday supper and Sunday lunch at the White Horse, Shaston Road, Stourpaine http://www.whitehorse-stourpaine.co.uk Tel: 01258 453535 by 24th August to avoid disappointment We will be providing a cheese ploughman’s lunch on Saturday and other refreshments at the village hall throughout the weekend. Please email if you wish to book a ploughman’s so that we can cater for everyone. It is very important to book as the nearest alternatives are some miles away.

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Last year’s Festival, on the theme of Hidden Connections, was on 14th-16th September at the Stourpaine Village Hall. Thank you to everyone who made this such a memorable and enlivening event. Hopefully we can all meet again for another uplifting weekend.

2018 FESTIVAL PROGAMME

Friday, 14th September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 7.00 pm – 10.00 pm

7.30 pm Welcome: David Caddy
7.35 pm MC: Morag Kiziewicz
Open Readers: Jeremy Hilton, Jinny Fisher, L.Kiew, Keith Walton, Paul Matthews
Featured poets: Anna Reckin, Jessica Mookherjee, Mark Goodwin

Saturday, 15th September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 9.00 am – 10.00 pm

Morning session 9.30 am to 12.15 pm

10.00 am Festival Address by Joanna Nissel
MC: Joanna Nissel, David Caddy
Open Readers: Colin Sutherill, Lesley Burt, Morag Kiziewicz, John Freeman
Conversation with Maria Stadnicka
Featured poets: Louise Buchler, Aidan Semmens, Amy McCauley

Lunch 12.15 to 2.15 pm

Afternoon Session 2.15 to 5.30 pm
MC: Valerie Bridge, Morag Kiziewicz
Open Readers: Cherry Smyth, Charles Wilkinson, Peter J. King, Nancy Gaffield
Talk: Ian Brinton on the impact of Charles Tomlinson on J.H. Prynne
Featured poets: Angela Gardner, Lou Rowan, Maria Stadnicka

Supper 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Evening Session 7.30 to 9.30 pm
MC: David Caddy

Open Readers: Rachael Clyne, Simon Collings, Richard Foreman, Norman Jope
Featured poets: Carrie Etter, Sarah Cave, Elisabeth Bletsoe

Sunday, 16th September at the Stourpaine Village Hall 9.00 am – 1.00 pm

Morning Session 9.30 – 11.45 am
MC: David Caddy

Open Readers: Gerald Killingworth, Jeremy Hilton for Christopher Allan, Joanna Nissel, Andrew Henon, Mandy Pannett,
Featured Poets: Linda Black, Valerie Bridge, Laurie Duggan

Closing Remarks: Andrew Henon

During the Festival Maria Stadnicka and David Caddy will be holding occasional impromptu and informal conversations / interviews with various poets in between the reading sessions.

Post Festival walk to Hod Hill leaving the White Horse at 3.00 pm

BOOKINGS
Advance Weekend Tickets are £25
Friday Tickets are £10
Saturday Tickets are £15
Sunday Tickets are £10

Please book through the magazine’s website. Go to the Subscribe / Donate page from the menu and pay through the Donate button.

MEALS

Please book Friday supper, Saturday lunch and supper at the White Horse, Shaston Road, Stourpaine http://www.whitehorse-stourpaine.co.uk Tel: 01258 453535 by 18th August to avoid disappointment or at Edie-Mae’s Tea Room and Art Gallery, Shaston Road, Stourpaine https://wwwediemaes.co.uk Tel: 01258 446502 to reserve tables for lunch and supper. We will be providing a cheese ploughman’s lunch on Saturday and other refreshments at the village hall throughout the weekend. Please email if you wish to book a ploughman’s so that we can cater for everyone. It is very important to book as the nearest alternatives are some miles away.

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The previous Festival weekend was from Friday, 15th September 2017 to Sunday, 17th September at The White Horse and Village Hall, Stourpaine. We had an uplifting invigorating, intimate and inspiring weekend. The Festival’s theme was the politics of engagement. We recalled and discussed the impact of Barry MacSweeney and Irina Ratushinskaya, both of whom read twice at our Festivals in the 1990s. At this time of national and global political upheaval, our Festival explored the lived experience of repression, austerity measures, migration, censorship and radical poetry.

Amongst the participants, were Melisande Fitzsimons, Clive Gresswell, Mandy Pannett, Sophie Herxheimer, Ric Hool, Norman Jope, Camilla Nelson, Kate Noakes, Lesley Saunders, Steve Spence, Maria Stadnicka, Valerie Bridge, Lesley Burt, Sarah Cave, Rachael Clyne, Sarah Hopkins, Jonathan Chant, Mike Duggan, Richard Foreman, Nancy Gaffield, Andrew Henon, Gerald Killingworth, Peter King, Morag Kiziewicz, John Phillips, David Pollard, Joanna Nissel, Aidan Semmens, Colin Sutherill, Jo Waterworth, Charles Wilkinson, Mike Duggan, Matt Bryden et al.

Friday 15 September
Poetry Supper Evening at the White Horse restaurant, Stourpaine
http://www.whitehorse-stourpaine.co.uk
Please let David know if you wish to have supper so that places can be booked in advance.
Supper from 6.00 pm
Readings from 7.30 pm MC: Morag Kiziewicz
with Mandy Pannett, Sophie Herxheimer
Open Readings featuring Valerie Bridge, Lesley Burt, Rachael Clyne, Richard Foreman, Andrew Henon, Morag Kiziewicz, Joanna Nissel, Aidan Semmens, Colin Sutherill

Saturday 16 September
Stourpaine Village Hall

Welcome

Arrive and welcome 9.00 am
9.30 – 11.00 MC: Andrew Henon
Opening address by David Caddy on the ‘politics of engagement’.
Irina Ratushinskaya presentation featuring Valerie Bridge reading in Russian, Morag Kiziewicz reading in English. Discussion on the poetry of political testimony.
11.00 – 11.15 break
11.15 – 12.30 Melisande Fitzsimons, and open readings featuring Gerald Killingworth, Peter J. King, Charles Wilkinson

12.30 – 2pm Lunch White Horse or by Village Hall
2.00 – 3.15 MC: Valerie Bridge
Clive Gresswell, Steve Spence and discussion
3.15 – 3.30 break
3.30 – 5.30 Maria Stadnicka, Kate Noakes, Norman Jope on the Plymouth Poetry Wars, and open readings featuring Mike Duggan, John Phillips, Jo Waterworth, David Pollard

6.00 – 7.20 Supper at White Horse

7.30 – 8.50 MC: David Caddy
Ric Hool, Camilla Nelson, Nancy Gaffield, Sarah Cave readings. Ric Hool on the poetry and legacy of Barry MacSweeney.

Sunday 17 September

9.00 am welcome MC: David Caddy
9.30 – 11.00 Discussion with Maria Stadnicka
Tears in the Fence Workshop Group Bird and Migration Poems
11.00 – 11.15 break
11.15 – 12 noon Norman Jope, Lesley Saunders

Alternatively, send a cheque, made out to Tears in the Fence, to David Caddy Portman Lodge, Durweston, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 0QA.

LOCAL TAXIS

Kens Kabs Tel: 01258 456136
Riverside Tel: 01258 453553
Hawthorne Tel: 07751 638723
Oakwood. Tel: 01258 455555
Q’s Cabs. Tel: 01258 410022
Tacon. Tel: 01258 453022
Taxilance Tel: 07756 934316

Here is Kat Peddie’s reading from Saturday evening at the September 2016 Festival Fundraiser:

Participants will include Vahni Capildeo, Amy Cutler, Andrew Duncan, John Goodby, Mark Goodwin, Jeff Hilson, Melissa Lee-Houghton, Zibahoo Karbassi, Simon Smith, Harriet Tarlo, and others.

Here is David Caddy reading his poem, ‘Lapping At The Door’ at the start of the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is David Caddy’s talk on W.H. Auden’s line that ‘poetry makes nothing happen’ at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Aidan Semmens reading from Uncertain Measures (Shearsman Books, 2014) on Sunday morning at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Valerie Bridge’s reading from A Somersault of Doves at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival on Sunday morning:

Here is Richard Makin’s reading from Mourning (Equus Press, 2015) from Sunday morning at the Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Ian Brinton’s talk on John Riley and the Cambridge University Poetry Archive from Saturday at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is the round table discussion opening remarks by Jennifer K. Dick, Jeff Hilson and Richard Makin from Saturday late afternoon at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Cora Greenhill’s reading from Sunday morning at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Louise Buchler’s reading from Friday evening at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Norman Jope’s reading from Friday evening at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Mandy Pannett’s reading from Saturday afternoon at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Anthony Barnett’s talk on Takashi Hiraide and Translation at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Pansy Maurer-Alvarez’s reading from Saturday at the Tears in the Fence Festival 2014:

Here is the link to Lucy Hamilton’s reading at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is Jeff Hilson’s reading from the Sunday session at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Jeff’s poem, ‘A Ritual Poem Against The Sea’, featured in the second half of the reading is available as a beautifully designed poster poem from Crater Press:

http://www.craterpress.co.uk/

This is Dorothy Lehane’s reading from Saturday afternoon at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

We are pleased to post Peter Hughes’ reading from the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival from Saturday morning. More videos to follow:

Here is Jennifer K. Dick’s reading from the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival on Sunday morning:

More Festival readings will be appearing on a regular basis.

Here is Chris McCabe’s reading from the Tears in the Fence Festival on Friday evening:

Here is Sarah Crewe’s reading on Friday evening at the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Here is a video of John Freeman’s reading with Ian Brinton’s introduction from the 2014 Tears in the Fence Festival:

Tears in the Fence is delighted to announce that we will be holding a Festival, in celebration of the magazine’s Thirtieth Anniversary, at the White Horse, Stourpaine, on 24-26 October 2014. There will be readings, talks and discussion, bookstalls, a Festival supper, book signings, music and open readings in a large Marquee next to the White Horse.

We wish to invite our supporters over the past thirty years to join us in celebrating thirty years of publishing and to look ahead at future poetic developments. The spirit of the Festival will be in the tradition of the Wessex Poetry Festivals 1995-2001 and it is hoped that this event will lead to a new series of annual Festivals.

The Festival will start at 6.45 pm on Friday, 24th October and finish on Sunday afternoon, 26th October. The pub will be open all day to welcome Festival goers. The Supper menu will be available from 5.00 – 9.00 pm. It is also possible to pre-order a meal. Tel: 01258 453535.

Among the speakers will be Anthony Barnett, Ian Brinton, Sarah Crewe, Jennifer K. Dick, John Freeman, Cora Greenhill, Lucy Hamilton, Jeff Hilson, Peter Hughes, Norman Jope, Dorothy Lehane, Richard Makin, Pansy Maurer-Alvarez, Chris McCabe, Jay Ramsay and Steve Spence.

PROGRAMME
The full programme is currently as follows:

Friday evening from 7.00 pm

Introductions and welcome: David Caddy

Featured poets: Norman Jope, Sarah Crewe, Chris McCabe

Open readings: Lesley Burt, Linda Black, Louise Buchler, Charles Hadfield, Pete Langley, Alison Lock, Catherine McNamara, Colin Sutherill, Charles Wilkinson.

Saturday morning from 10.00 am

Welcome: Ian Brinton

Featured poets: John Freeman, Lucy Hamilton, Peter Hughes

A talk by Ian Brinton

Lunch 12.30 – 2.00 pm

Saturday afternoon from 2.00 pm

Featured poets: Dorothy Lehane, Steve Spence, Pansy Maurer-Alvarez

A talk by Anthony Barnett

from 5.00 pm
A round table discussion on ‘Of Tradition & Experiment’ with Jennifer K. Dick, Jeff Hilson and Richard Makin

Round Table: Of Tradition and Experiment. To celebrate 30 years of Tears in the Fence a magazine featuring international authors writing in a diverse range of aesthetic and formal styles, join us for this round table discussion on issues of tradition and “avant-gardism” today. Authors Jennifer K Dick, Richard Makin and Jeff Hilson will present, dialogue and discuss some of their issues as authors, publishers and readers with tradition and experiment as well as comment on how they see this issue both on a national (UK) level and on an international scale. Topics will include literary homage, formal choice and language use. We will close with a debate on the new newness—what we think is or isn’t just over the literary horizon! Participants are invited to read the article in issue 60 of Tears in the Fence as an amuse-bouche prepping for the discussion. We hope you will all participate in this lively debate and round table discussion!!!

6.00 – 7.30 pm drinks and nibbles
Speeches

7.30 pm Festival Supper

9.00 pm No Fixed Abode

Sunday morning from 10.00 am

Welcome: Ian Brinton, David Caddy

Featured poets: Jennifer K. Dick, Cora Greenhill, Richard Makin, Jay Ramsay

Open readings: David Andrew, Andrew Henon, Ric Hool, John Howard-Greaves, Rosie Jackson, Morag Kiziewicz, Mandy Pannett, Aidan Semmens

OPEN READINGS
We welcome everyone who wishes to read at the Festival. There will be two sessions of open readings. Please let us know if you wish to book a slot. There are still slots available.

BOOKSTALL
We will be running a bookstall throughout the weekend. Please bring your books, pamphlets and magazines.

FESTIVAL SUPPER
There will be a choice of three options in the White Horse restaurant on Saturday evening. Before the Supper there will be short speeches. After the Supper there will be music from acoustic folk duo, No Fixed Abode.

ACCOMMODATION
There are a considerable number of guest houses and B&Bs in and around Stourpaine and Blandford Forum. We recommend the search engines available at booking.com, laterooms.com and trivago.co.uk. Our nearest local hotels are the Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Royal Chase Hotel, Shaftesbury and King’s Head Hotel, Wimborne Minster.

TRANSPORT
Our nearest railways stations are at Gillingham (Dorset) to the north and Poole to the south of Blandford Forum. The X9 bus runs from Gillingham station to Stourpaine and Blandford on the A350 Monday to Saturday. The X8 bus runs from Poole station to Blandford on the A350 throughout the week.
We will be providing transport from Gillingham and Poole stations. Please let us know if you require a lift.

CAR PARK
There is a car park opposite the White Horse neatly concealed from the main road. It is to be found on the first right hand turn as you drive towards Shaftesbury past the pub and immediately on the right in Bottom Road. This is the Trailway car park used by Trailway walkers and visitors to the pub.