August 27th-29th August, 2011
Towersey Village Festival is an annual
festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the village of
Towersey in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place every August bank holiday
weekend since its founding in 1965.The venues in which the festival normally
takes place are the concert tent, the dance tent, the arena, the village hall
and the arts centre with occasional impromptu performances in the beer tent
(normally called "The Headless Horseman") and in the Three Horseshoes
public house. Other features include the main site, the craft tent and the
craft market
Following their successful introduction of
a poetry programme at Towersey Festival in 2010, poets Nick Field and Paul
Sherreard will be back this year with a bigger and better series of poetry and
spoken word events. Building on an enthusiastic reception from festival goers
last year, Nick and Paul will be running breakfast and teatime sessions of
poetry workshops and readings in the cosy ‘Den’ tent, with beanbags, cushions
and cakes all part of the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of the events. An open
mike session on the last day of the festival, hosted by Nick and Paul, will
give a chance for poets to read the work they’ve developed for a supportive
audience.
Sat 27th
4.30 - 6.00 Poetry Teatime (workshop)
A friendly workshop where you can try your
hand at writing and performing poetry for the first time, or, if you are a
seasoned poet, try out some new ideas and styles of poetry and performance. Led
by local poet Paul 'Shez' Sherreard and renowned Spoken Word artist Nick Field.
Tea and cakes and cushions galore.
Sun 28th
10am -11.30 Poetry Breakfast (workshop)
A friendly workshop where you can try your
hand at writing and performing your poetry for the first time, or, if you are a
seasoned poet, try out some new ideas and styles of poetry and performance. Led
by local poet Paul 'Shez' Sherreard and renowned Spoken Word artist Nick Field.
Bring your breakfast with you, and fuel your creativity with a steaming hot
brew from the lovely folk at the FesTeaval stall.
Sun 28th
4.30 – 6.00 Poetry Teatime Masterclass
(workshop)
The third of our welcoming workshops at The
Den, this session is for anyone who has been to any of the previous sessions to
come and take on something a bit more challenging - hone your skills and
explore your voice as a poet...and also have some tea and biscuits. Also, this
is an opportunity to prepare something for Monday's open mic.
Mon 29th
4.30 – 5.30 Poetry Teatime
A warm up and confidence-building workshop
for anyone taking part in the Open Mic poetry at The Hive.
6pm - 8pm Early Supper Open Mic
Towersey is where you do things for the
first time. Come and perform your poetry to a warm, friendly audience of fellow
poets in The Hive. Hosted by local poet Paul 'Shez' Sherreard and renowned
Spoken Word artist Nick Field
Nick Field is a Spoken Word Artist and poet
with a background in theatre and playwriting. He draws on theatre and live art
to create evocative, bittersweet and richly lyrical spoken word pieces. He has
performed at major events, venues and festivals internationally including Soho
Theatre, GreenMan Festival, Brighton Festival and Stockholm Fringe. Nick was
Poet in Residence at Keats House in London during the summer of 2010. He was
based at the beautiful Hampstead home of John Keats and produced new work for
an anthology and gave performances for visitors. He also lead writing workshops
for gifted and talented young people drawing on his previous experience as a
workshop facilitator and university lecturer. In May 2001 Nick premiered his
first solo spoken-word show 'The Cosmos, The Cosmetics' in Brighton, and will
be taking the show on tour later in the year.
Paul Sherreard is a local lad who grew up roaming the
small grassy knolls and car parks of Lea Park in Thame. He now lives in that
big shiny London town down the end of the M40.
Paul is poet in residence at Guys and St
Thomas’ Hospital in Lambeth and works for Keat House Museum in Hampstead where
he runs a programme of writing and performance workshops for all members of the
community. Paul is also Towersey Festival’s Poet-in
Residence.
