A Poet Laureate in the Parsonage

Probably the sisters would be thrilled to know that a Poet Laureate (although not Wordsworth or Southey) is going to give a talk in Haworth. It happens today, April 18, Andrew Motion (Poet Laureate since 1999) will be at the Haworth Parish Church as we can read on the Brontë Parsonage Blog and on FinishMySong :

Andrew Motion - An Evening with the Poet Laureate

Wednesday 18 April, 7.30pm
Haworth Parish Church

"I see myself as a town crier, can-opener and flag-waver for poetry" - Andrew Motion

It was a previous Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, who commented in a letter to Charlotte Brontë in 1837 that, Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. The present Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, will be visiting Haworth for just one night to read and discuss his work, including his most recent, critically acclaimed work In the Blood: A Memoir of My Childhood.

Andrew Motion has written numerous volumes of poetry as well as biography and fiction. His work has received the Arvon/Observer Prize, the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. In 1994 his biography of Philip Larkin was awarded the Whitbread Prize for Biography, and shortlisted for the NCR Award. He succeeded Ted Hughes as the Poet Laureate in May 1999, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has recently been appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. In the Blood: A Memoir of My Childhood was published by Faber in 2006.

Tickets are £10/ £6 (under 16s) and should be booked in advance. Ticket price includes admission to the Brontë Parsonage Museum on the day of the event. The museum will be open until 7.00pm. For further details and bookings please contact the Brontë Parsonage Museum on 01535 640194, or email andrew.mccarthy@bronte.org.uk

Categories: Alert, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Talks