The annual Poetry Festival took place on Monday 2 March 2020, 6 – 8pm.

The evening is one of the highlights of our events calendar and gives students the opportunity to present highlights of their work.

This year we were delighted to welcome our judge and Poet in Residence, poet and novelist Dr Ros Barber to judge the poems and performances. She commented on how difficult it was to select winners as the standard was so high.

Dr Barber talked about how poetry helps us realise how words can communicate very succinctly and directly; how we live in an increasingly fractured and isolated world, with the devices in our pockets making connections between us, but also increasing our isolation, and how poetry is one way of bridging that gap.

She talked about the intimacy of poetry and how the best poems aren’t necessarily loud or polished; they are sometimes quiet and say ‘Come over here and sit next to me’, and they give you a sense of the poet’s individual voice.

Congratulations to all those who took part for some fantastic work.