Nottingham Poetry Festival returns for first time since Covid pandemic

A poetry festival that was suspended during the Covid pandemic is to return.

Nottingham Poetry Festival will run from 6 to 15 May, featuring names such as Roger McGough, British poet laureate Simon Armitage and Michael Rosen.

The former children's laureate is making one of his first appearances since his 12-week stay in hospital after contracting coronavirus.

Festival founder Henry Normal said it was "brilliant" the event was returning.

Nottingham-born Mr Normal was the co-writer of TV and film hits such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show and Coogan's Run, as well as being the producer of Gavin and Stacey, Alan Partridge and the Oscar-nominated film Philomena.

He said: "It's so brilliant to see Nottingham Poetry Festival grow into one of the very best in the country.

"The community engagement, the energy, the breadth of quality and innovation now rivals any poetry festival in the UK."

He said he would be touring the city's libraries to deliver a poetry hour, with a different guest poet at each location.

He added: "I'm delighted to be performing free shows at the city's libraries and hope friends old and new will come along and say hello and bring along a poem themselves."

He also plans to present stories, jokes and poems at Lakeside, on 12 May.

Mr Rosen will be sharing his poems at Metronome on 12 May, while Mr McGough will be introducing a new collection at Djanogly Theatre at the Lakeside on 14 May.

Simon Armitage's band, LYR, will close the festival on 15 May.

Other names to feature at the festival include Casey Bailey and Jah Digga.

Festival director Anne Holloway called on residents to get involved in the event, which can be booked online, adding: "You don't have to be a poet to enjoy poetry."

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