Poetry festival
Poetry fans will gather in Brighton from 22nd - 26th of November as local publisher Pighog Press hosts an array of local and international talent at the 2011 Brighton Poetry Festival. Priding itself on eclecticism and an inclusive ethos, Pighog has collaborated with a number of local partners to produce a varied and vibrant programme featuring everything from the seminal avant-gardism of Lee Harwood and Tom Raworth, through the earthy realism of Neil Rollinson and Lorna Thorpe, to the sensuous neo-Romanticism of Mimi Khalvati.
It's a festival propelled by the distinct trajectories of the writers involved and inspired by the 'Alice and the Pigbaby' passage of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. We believe Pigbaby has something to move and to stimulate no matter what your literary background.
Since its conception in 2002, Pighog Press has earned a reputation for bringing the rising stars of the fertile Sussex region to public attention for the first time, and Pigbaby is a chance to celebrate the electricity generated when rising stars such as Kay Syrad and Charlotte Gann share the stage with nationally celebrated figures such as Iain Sinclair and The Poetry Business founders Peter and Anne Sansom.
The programme also emphasises Pighog's ties to the Munster province of Ireland, with master poet Ciaran O'Driscollbringing his moving and accessible verse to town alongside fellow Limerick resident Mark Whelan, who will launchBrighton Suite, a delightful new pamphlet which explores love and loss with crystalline imagery and beautifully modulated free verse.