By Press Release
The inaugural West Wight WordFest took place, at the town’s community hall, on Friday and Saturday, and was a huge success.
Hosted by Jean G-Owen, the ‘Yarnival’ included more than 20 Island writers and wordsmiths to celebrate the spoken word.
On Friday evening, a packed River Room enjoyed performances by Ovid with Reverb, Steve Rushton, Lorrain Baggaley and more.
The following afternoon opened with an informal talk by Felicity Fair Thompson, about her career in Leicester Square’s Odeon, among other topics. Kevin Shaw reflected on the Charge of the Light Brigade through Tennyson’s poem of the same name. There were readings by Erica Morley Hillard, Peter May, Bev Barber, and Julie Watson, storytelling by Monty Dawners, and Word Spoken Song, and a poetry slam which included a number of writers.
Everyone was invited to pen their poetic thoughts onto the Poet Tree. These will be woven into a poem to be published in the autumn in the new Isle of Wight literary magazine called ‘The Figlet’ by Naked Figleaf Press.