South Downs
Poetry
Festival
Exploring, celebrating, developing the written and spoken word.
South Downs Poetry Festival, SDPF, is an annual pop-up festival which – uniquely – spans many miles: the length and breadth of the beautiful South Downs National Park and the surrounding area. The festival is organised by Focus Arts, a registered charity (number 1200784). All trustees and advisers work unpaid and we rely on generous support from our sponsors and of course you to buy tickets.
​Tim Dawes - Founding Director
Tim founded the South Downs Poetry Festival in 2016. He has had many years’ experience, having previously founded and directed Havant Literary Festival: “A plucky little festival, determined to bring literature to the people of Havant, whether they want it or not”. Anthony Gardner, Intelligent Life magazine.
Mandy Pannett
Mandy Pannett lives in West Sussex where she works freelance as a creative writing teacher. She is the author of six poetry collections. Her most recent publication is The Daedalus Files. Mandy is the poetry editor for Sentinel Literary Quarterly. She also writes reviews of poetry collections for Sentinel and Tears in the Fence. She has won prizes in many national competitions and has been the adjudicator for others.
Barry Smith - Festival Director
Barry Smith is a both a poet and an arts festival producer. He is currently Director of the South Downs Poetry Festival and was one of the founding members of the Festival of Chichester. Barry edits the annual magazine, Poetry & All That Jazz. He curates the poetry for Blakefest and is Patron of the Shelley Memorial Project.
His poetry has been published in many magazines and journals as well as being shortlisted for the BBC Proms Poetry and the Culture Matters Bread & Roses awards and nominated for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Collections include: Performance Rites (Waterloo Press) and Reeling and Writhing (Dempsey and Windle).
Ian lives in Chichester. He took over as treasurer in 2021 and helps us keep our affairs in good order. He has a work background in cost and management accounting. Now very much semi-retired, he has time to look after treasury roles at several charities.
Ian Barnett - Treasurer
Joan Secombe was born In Wales and taught English for many years. Taking a keen interest in creative writing, she was a ‘teacher-trailblazer’ for the Poetry Society. Her collection Moving from the West was recently released. Joan has read her poetry at Arundel Festival, Chichester Festival, Victorious Festival and on Talking News, an audio service for the visually impaired.
Joan Secombe - Secretary
Stephanie Norgate - South Downs Poet
We have had fantastic advice and support from many people in the poetry world, but we must just mention the poet and creative writing teacher Stephanie Norgate whose poetry in her Bloodaxe collections and her work at Chichester University has been an inspiration for people living in the South Downs.
History
2023
​2023 has seen the festival in full swing in locations around the South Downs with exciting events taking place in our usual eclectic choice of venues, including cathedrals, churches, galleries, community spaces and even a jailhouse. We began appropriately by celebrating Sussex Landscapes amongst the pictures on display in Pallant House Gallery before moving on to St Pancras Church to mark the bicentenaries of the Romantics, this year with a special empahasis on Sussex novelist and poet Charlotte Smith. SDPF poets gave a dramatic reading of Shelley’s elegy on Keats, Adonais. Once again we were delighted to support the Festival Fringe in Chichester, with events in Drapers Yard (Poetry Take-Off!) and Graylingwell Chapel (Poetry in Motion). Our contributions to the main Festival were the Poetry & Jazz Cafe with guest poet Rosie Jackson at the Assembly Room and Poetry and Music with Louis de Bernieres at the Cathedral. The SDPF Poetry Competition had its culmination in lovely Binsted church, where judge Wendy Klein gave a reading and Alison Campbell took the Binsted Prize. We maintained our partnerships with Blakefest and the Shelley Memorial Project, contributing to the words and music programmes in Felpham Church near Blake’s Cottage and at Warnham Church, Horsham, which contains memorials to the Shelley family. Roger McGough was guest poet at the latter and Janine Booth at the former. This year saw the SDPF on tour at Dimbola gallery and teashop, Freshwater, and at Wells Library. And the jailhouse? That was part of the Arundel Festival – Jazz and Poetry at the Jailhouse. We finished the year in style at grade 1 listed St John’s Chapel with the Festive Jazz Cafe celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHS, featuring a talk by distinguished local councillor and GP Dr James Walsh and poems read by SDPF poets who had personal experience of dealing with serious illness under the care of the NHS.
Poets featured in 2023 included Rosie Jackson, Roger McGough, Louis de Bernieres, Stephanie Norgate, Wendy Klein, Janine Booth, Amanda Waring, Lou Beckerman, Kate Noakes, Deborah Tyler-Bennett, Rob Hamberger, Caroline Maldonado, Barry Smith, Chris Hardy, Naomi Foyle, Mandy Pannett, Pratibha Castle and John O’Donoghue amongst others. Actors included Emily Rose Smith, the aforementioned ex-Flying Picket now theatre/TV/film performer Gareth Williams and Paula Tinker. Musicians included classical pianist Elena Toponogova, guitarists Linda Kelsall-Barnett and Chris Hardy, jazz saxophonist Charlotte Glasson, and Mike Carey’s Big House Jazz Band. All in all, it was certainly another hectic and thoroughly enjoyable poetical year in the South Downs.
2021
2021 has been another challenging year with the impact of the pandemic restricting live events and imposing rules designed to keep people safe. But SDPF has risen to the challenge with inspirational events and a fantastic cast of brilliant poets, actors and musicians keeping the poetry flag flying high in the South Downs. We began with a virtual event, an online YouTube film celebrating the bicentenary of John Keats, which has to date received nearly 2,500 viewings across the globe. Put together by SDPF director Barry Smith and videographer Katie Bennett, the film opened in a Downland setting at Binderton, where walkers were surprised to encounter a life-size replica of Keats sitting on a bench. From there, the film included input from academics and readings from Keats by poets and actors as well a virtual tour of the house on the Spanish Steps where Keats died. A second key virtual event was a link-up with Guildford based publishers Dempsey & Windle celebrating Shakespeare’s Birthday Party with readings from the bard alongside new Shakespeare inspired poems. We took part in the very first Chichester Free Fringe, live-streamed from the Vicars Hall. This year live events have focused on two places, Chichester and Petworth, with the Poetry & Jazz Cafe at the Assembly Room, Poetry and Music with Dame Penelope Keith at the Cathedral and National Poetry Day at the Novium, while Blakefest and Winter Words were at Petworth House and Poetry Breakfast took place in the Leconfield Hall. We were pleased to link-up with the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association for the Celebrating Keats film, Poetry and Music at Chichester Cathedral when Dame Penelope read from Keats’ Odes and the Winchester Watermeadows Walk. We were equally pleased to continue our partnerships with Blakefest and Petworth Litfest.
So, who were the poets we featured in 2021? We were delighted to include Louis de Bernieres, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Raine Geoghegan, Stephanie Norgate, Chris Hardy, James Simpson, Naomi Foyle, Hugh Dunkerley, David Swann, Barry Smith, Pratibha Castle, Denise Bennett, Richard Hawtree, Camilla Lambert, Mandy Pannett, Jeremy Page and other fine guest poets. We are grateful to them all. Actors taking part included Dame Penelope Keith, Gareth Williams, Paula Tinker, Emily Rose Smith and Rosie Cavaliero, while music came from the Charlotte Glasson Trio, Russian pianist Elena Toponogova, guitarist Linda Kelsall-Barnett and roots/jazz duo Mike Carey and Clare Nicholas. The SDPF poetry competition was judged by David Swann who gave a reading at Binsted Church, with Christopher Horton being awarded the 2021 Binsted Prize. As usual, the SDPF annual magazine, Poetry & All That Jazz, brought together local, regional, national and international poets, including new poetry by Frieda Hughes, Vicki Feaver, Martyn Crucefix, Penelope Shuttle and Mario Petrucci. All in all, it was quite a year. We hope you enjoyed our offerings and will be with us again next year as we pop up in and around the beautiful South Downs.
2020
2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone involved with the arts but we have endeavoured to keep poetry in focus with those events that have been possible in a year of restrictions for live events. We certainly began with a bang with the Celebration of Keats in January at St Pancras Church, Chichester – near Vincent Gray’s statue of the poet, opposite the house where Keats stayed when he visited Chichester and was inspired to begin his magnificent Eve of St Agnes. Poets and actors combined to read Keats’ poems and letters, including a reconstruction of the correspondence with Fanny Brawne. Taking part were James Simpson, Emily Rose Smith, Naomi Foyle and Stephanie Norgate. Following closely in February, we were delighted to welcome Roger McGough and Little Machine to the region when they sold out their lively evening of words and music at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre. Who says poetry isn’t popular! This year, the Binsted Prize for the South Downs Poetry Competition – which attracted many high quality entries – was won by Brighton poet David Swann. The SDPF’s annual magazine Poetry & All That Jazz became an important focus for us as it enabled us to bring poets and readers together through print. We were delighted to include poems by regional and local writers as well as national and international guests, including Penelope Shuttle, Patricia McCarthy, Kevin Higgins, Ciaran O’Driscoll and Frieda Hughes. Email us if you would like a copy.
Though we couldn’t be physically there, we were delighted to be part of the Virtual Festival of Chichester with Poetry Time featuring the work of Costa Poetry Award winner John Haynes, as well as a Poetry & Jazz video from Barry Smith with the Charlotte Glasson Trio, recorded at the 2019 Blakefest. We marked National Poetry Day with a special edition of Open Mic Poems on the Chichester Poetry website, featuring the launch of Alan Morrison’s latest collection, Gum Arabic, plus new poems from Martyn Crucefix, Maggie Sawkins, Richard Williams and others. Open Mic Poems is a monthly online get-together of poets with a new guest poet featured. We were pleased to support Wendy Klein’s latest launch with Dempsey and Windle, an online event featuring Wendy’s Civil War poems. In November, Patrick Osada also launched his latest collection virtually. And then there’s been the Sussex Together celebration of the arts, led by Chichester Cathedral and supported by SDPF with judges for the poetry being South Downs poets/editors Jeremy Page, Maggie Sawkins, Joan Secombe and Barry Smith. The winner was Arundel artist and poet, Andy Waite, but many other fine poems were submitted. November brought the virtual link-up with Blakefest, Visions of Innocence and Experience featuring Blake’s images with poems read by SDPF regulars Mandy Pannett, James Simpson, David Swann, Richard Williams, Naomi Foyle, Barry Smith and Raine Geoghegan, together with community voices. December features the Festive Jazz Cafe – stimulating jazz from the Dream Duo together with seasonal words from distinguished actor Gareth Williams.We’re already now looking ahead to 2021 and hoping to return to live events. But meanwhile, we will continue to offer virtual poetry so do keep an eye on our Programme page as it is updated regularly.
2019
The 2019 South Downs Poetry Festival ran exciting poetry events, often with a touch of music and visual arts, at venues across the South Downs. Visiting poets included Louis de Bernieres, Sean O’Brien, Brian Daldorph, Clare Best, Andy Brown, Raine Geoghegan, Grace Nichols, Alan Morrison, Wendy Klein, James Simpson, Penelope Shuttle, Kay Syrad, Michael Bartholomew-Biggs, Nancy Mattson, Jeremy Page, Maggie Sawkins, the Speechpainter, Hugh Dunkerley, Mandy Pannett and many others. Distinguished actors reading poetry included Dame Patricia Routledge, Gareth Williams, Mark Wynter, Chloe Salaman and Emily Rose Smith. Uplifting music was provided by jazzers Julian Stringle and Dominic Ashworth, the Charlotte Glasson Band, classical guitarist Linda Kelsall-Barnett, roots performers Liam Ruth, Mike Carey and Clare Nicholas. Great art from Ivon Hitchens and Frances Knight enlivened proceedings at Pallant House Gallery and the Victoria Institute at Arundel. One project we very much enjoyed doing this year was recording poetry readings by South Downs poets for broadcast to the visually impaired, via Sussex Coast Talking News. We also guested at festivals at Midhurst, Lewes, Arundel, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Petworth and Chichester. Our annual publication, Poetry & All That Jazz, featured new work by many inspiring poets including Frieda Hughes, Matthew Sweeney, Mario Petrucci, Tamar Yoseloff, Rosie Jackson, Kevin Higgins and Ciaran O’Driscoll. The South Downs Poetry Competition was organised in partnership with Binsted Arts to award the Binsted Prize to Anna Kisby for her poem, Five times Racoon. A special partnership with the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association saw readings celebrating the bicentenary of John Keats at Chichester Cathedral and St Pancras Church. Workshops took place at Knepp Wildland and the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. All in all, a hectic but thoroughly enjoyable year.
2018
The 2018 South Downs Festival programme ran from March to November at venues across the South Downs, with events taking place from Portsmouth to Lewes, from Midhurst to Arundel, with stopovers at Finchdean, Chichester, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Tortington and elsewhere. We enjoyed poetry in tiny country churches, magnificent cathedrals, artists’ studios, pubs, libraries and at the seaside. We were delighted to welcome Tamar Yoseloff, Louis de Bernieres, Robyn Bolam, Stephanie Norgate, Matthew Stewart and others to assorted events in Chichester, including film/TV/stage star Michael Jayston reading classic South Downs poems in the Cathedral. Blakefest, celebrating one of the most famous poetical residents of the South Downs, William Blake, was a special highlight. Blake only stayed a few years, but his visit has been immortalised by his visions of angels, the inspiration for Jersusalem and of course his arrest and trial for sedition. Events took place all day at the Regis Centre/Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis. Guests included The All Things Must Pass Orchestra with the music of sixties’ visionary George Harrison, Jamie Leeming Jazz Trio, the Lena Lovich Band and poetry from Sasha Dugdale, Ciaran O’Driscoll, Naomi Foyle, Barry Smith, Shedman John Davies and lots more.
The end of World War 1 commemoration at Midhurst Church saw poets assembling from across the South Downs to read classic WW1 poems alongside new poems specially written for the occasion. Poets included the editor of Agenda, Patricia McCarthy, the editor of London Magazine, Steven O’Brien, the editor of the Frogmore Papers, Jeremy Page, Ted Hughes Award winner Maggie Sawkins, Ted Hughes Award nominee David Swann, Bloodaxe poet Stephanie Norgate and other fine poets. The commemoration also featured an address by author, editor and biographer Lord Egremont from Petworth House and a new sculpture of a WW1 soldier by Vincent Gray. It was a truly memorable experience. SDPF workshops took place at Arundel with Anne-Marie Fyfe from Troubadour (Smoke & Mirrors), poetry surgeries at Lewes with Charlotte Gann, Kay Syrad, Jeremy Page and Janet Sutherland, and at Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton for location writing with Stephanie Norgate. Poetry, Paintings and Prosecco was another highlight. Set in artist Andy Waite’s Arundel studio, we were delighted to welcome Anne-Marie Fyfe and C.L. Dallat to join South Downs poets Melanie Penycate, Camilla Lambert, Raine Geohegan and others.
It was certainly a hectic but rewarding year for the new SDPF team of Barry Smith, Joan Secombe, Stephanie Norgate and Mandy Pannett.
2017
In 2017 the festival spread out time-wise as well as geographically starting in April and running through to Juiy. Again here were major concentrations of events in Lewes and Petersfield but also in many places in between including Steep, were we held a day of events dedicated to Edward Thomas on the 100th anniversary of the Poet’s death, a weekend of poetry at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and events at the Cass Foundation Sculpture Park, Arundel, Chichester, Brighton and Steyning. One high light was an evening of poetry and prosecco in the remote and tiny St Hubert’s Church near Finchdean on the Hampshire / Sussex boarder. We also ran a weekend residential tutored by Kim Moore and Hugh Dunkerley. Other contributors included: Tolu Agbelusi, Ray Antrobus, Rebbecca Askew, Claire Dyer, Elephant’s Footprint Poetry Films, Anne-Marie Fyfe, Naomi Foyle, Rebbecca Gethin, Hugh Greasley, Norbert Hisrchhorn, Penny Hope, Frieda Hughes, Charlotte Innes, Wendy Klein, Jane Lovell, John McCullough, Patricia McCarthy, Audi Maserati, Paul Matthews, Grace Nichols, Stephani Norgate, Michaela Ridgway, Rhymes with Orange,
After these two very successful years the founding SDPF trustees were rather tired and one of them, the founding director, Tim Dawes, moved away from the area. SDPF continues from 2018 onwards with Barry Smith taking over as the Festival Director, supported by trustees Joan Secombe and Mandy Pannett, with Stephanie Norgate as poetry adviser.
SDPF is a community charitable trust. All trustees and advisers work unpaid and we rely on generous support from our sponsors and of course you to buy tickets.
2016
2016 was SDPF’s inaugural year with 63 events over nine days in July 2016. Our début programme included events in Lewes, Ditchling, Singleton, Midhurst and Petersfield; as well as a four day Poetry Bike Tour with poetry performances from Eastbourne to East Meon; and, finally, putting on an event-filled 3 days over a weekend in and around Petersfield in Hampshire. Contributors included Andrew McMillan, Jonathan Edwards, Rhymes with Orange, Maggie Sawkins, Stephanie Norgate, Jackie Wills, Hugh Dunkerley, Jonathan Edwards, Hilda Sheehan, John Greening, John Davies, Janet Sutherland, Penelope Shuttle, Brendan Cleary, Matthew Caley, John Haynes, Audi Maserati, Speech Painter, Peter Sutton and Attila The Stockbroker.