Poetry Olympics Twenty05 – Sunday 25th September

On Sunday 25^th September 2005 from 7pm, the Royal Albert Hall will host a special anniversary incarnation of the Poetry Olympics. In Summer 1965, the Hall was filled to overflowing for the historic gathering of world voices (filmed as Wholly Communion) which celebrated the renaissance of performance poetry and international times. 

Forty years on, Poetry Olympics Twenty05 will reunite a few of that evening's bards still at work – Adrian Mitchell, Christopher Logue, Spike Hawkins, Michael Horovitz and Andrei Voznesensky – alongside other leading lights of today's community of poets, songwriter-singers and musicians, including Sujata Bhatt, Grace Nichols, John Hegley, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Stacy Makishi, Fran Landesman, Beth Orton, and The William Blake Klezmatrix (Madeline Solomon, Peter Lemer, Annie Whitehead and MH). Plus many special guests tbc. BBC presenter James Naughtie will be one of several MCs.

For Tickets, from £5 (Gallery Concs) to £40 (Grand Tier Boxes), see www.royalalberthall.com – or telephone 020 7589 8212.

There will also be a Jazz Poetry SuperJam at the 100 Club, 100 Oxford Street, London W1 on National Poetry Day, Thursday 6th October, including tributes to the much missed Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jeff Nuttall. Poets, singers and musos performing include Pete Brown, Adam and Michael Horovitz, Libby Houston, Peter Lemer, Michael Lukes, Molly Parkin, Sophie Parkin and Annie Whitehead. Tickets £10 (£7.50 Members & Concs) at the Door from 7.15pm.

The new website – www.poetryolympics.com – is now up and running and features information about Poetry Olympics festivals and Jazz Poetry SuperJam gigs; New Departures publications, recordings and other arts productions; and poets Michael Horovitz (torchbearer/co-ordinator of New Departures/Poetry Olympics), Adam Horovitz and the late lamented Frances Horovitz.

To find out more about these, and other events, CDs and publications, please send stamped self-addressed envelopes to: 

New Departures/Poetry Olympics | PO Box 9819 | London W11 2GQ 

– or you can email: info@poetryolympics.com