Article
A round-up of Scotland’s international poetry festival
StAnza Festival 2010
April 02, 2010
Myth & Legend was, indeed, one of StAnza’s themes and the topic wove its way through a marvellous Poetry Breakfast discussion which opened with Classical scholar, Stephen Halliwell, declaiming lines from Homer in the original Greek; the impact of myth was the subject of Grevel Lindop’s StAnza Lecture, which was closely argued and passionate, linking mythology with environmental concerns. Other gems among what one StAnza veteran called the “parallel StAnzas” were readings by the Spanish poet Luis Muñoz, with translations by John Burnside, and “Border Crossings”, a series which paired poets from the UK and abroad, including Italy’s Valerio Magrelli with Scotland’s Hamish Whyte, and Suffolk based poet and translator Will Stone with Cuban poet Victor Rodriguez Núñez.
StAnza’s Artistic Director, Eleanor Livingstone, confessed that: “So many excellent readings and such warm engagement with audiences from poets and others taking part made for a wonderful atmosphere, which not only delighted people attending the festival but also exceeded even my high expectations.” Luckily, for those who couldn’t make it, some of the festival’s unique atmosphere can be sampled via StAnza’s podcasts. If you missed out this time, there’s always next year to look forward to . . .
With the presence of such world-class poets as Seamus Heaney, Don Paterson and Linton Kwesi Johnson at StAnza: Scotland’s International Festival 2010, which was held at the historic Scottish town of St Andrews from 17 to 21 March, it’s no surprise that many events were sold out. In the case of Heaney and Johnson, for those who missed out on tickets, the readings were screened live upstairs from the venue, the Byre Theatre’s main auditorium.
But what many StAnza visitors (who had travelled from Scotland, the UK and beyond) commented on was the variety and subtlety of the programme on offer. Starting on St Patrick’s Day, the festival’s Irish focus drew on the talents of poets such as Matthew Sweeney, Dennis O’Driscoll, Anne-Marie Fyfe, Colette Bryce, and the music of the prolific Cathal Dallat and the elegant Galway trio Dordan. As the weekend progressed, the focus turned to the vibrant and various Canadians, John Akpata, Karen Solie, and Lewis MacKinnon. An international showcase of young talent included the seriously surreal Monika Rinck, whose English versions were read by poet/translator Alistair Noon, and the Austrian rising star Andreas Unterweger. And it was possible to make other poetic discoveries: in the ‘Past & Present’ strand, present-day poets discussed personal influences as diverse as Jane Kenyon, Georg Trakl and the semi-mythic Ossian. Myth & Legend was, indeed, one of StAnza’s themes and the topic wove its way through a marvellous Poetry Breakfast discussion which opened with Classical scholar, Stephen Halliwell, declaiming lines from Homer in the original Greek; the impact of myth was the subject of Grevel Lindop’s StAnza Lecture, which was closely argued and passionate, linking mythology with environmental concerns. Other gems among what one StAnza veteran called the “parallel StAnzas” were readings by the Spanish poet Luis Muñoz, with translations by John Burnside, and “Border Crossings”, a series which paired poets from the UK and abroad, including Italy’s Valerio Magrelli with Scotland’s Hamish Whyte, and Suffolk based poet and translator Will Stone with Cuban poet Victor Rodriguez Núñez.
StAnza’s Artistic Director, Eleanor Livingstone, confessed that: “So many excellent readings and such warm engagement with audiences from poets and others taking part made for a wonderful atmosphere, which not only delighted people attending the festival but also exceeded even my high expectations.” Luckily, for those who couldn’t make it, some of the festival’s unique atmosphere can be sampled via StAnza’s podcasts. If you missed out this time, there’s always next year to look forward to . . .
© Annie Kelly
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