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The power of poetry

Rowan Williams, Jay Bernard, Martin Sixsmith and Kate Clanchy discuss the power of poetry with Andrew Marr.

Rowan Williams celebrates The Book of Taliesin – legendary Welsh poems of enchantment and warfare. The former Archbishop of Canterbury tells Andrew Marr how the collection of poems speak of a lost world of folklore and mythology, and the figure of Taliesin is an elusive and exuberant creative poetic fiction.

Martin Sixsmith tells the extraordinary story of the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin at the turn of the 20th century. Yesenin lived through the most turbulent times in Russian history, and during an age when poets were stars, and millions could recite his works by heart.

The poet Jay Bernard has found inspiration in exploring the black British archive, and the enquiry into the New Cross Fire in 1981 which killed thirteen young people. The poems shine a light on an unacknowledged chapter in British history, and find resonance with the horror of the Grenfell tower fire two years ago.

The poet, writer and teacher, Kate Clanchy has seen first-hand poetry’s unique ability to unleash young voices. At the multicultural school in Oxford where she teaches, students speak 30 languages and poetry has become a vital part of bringing pupils together, giving them pride in their work and allowing them to express the reality of their lives.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image of Jay Bernard, taken by Joshua Virasami

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42 minutes

Last on

Mon 24 Jun 2019 21:30

Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams is the former Archbishop of Canterbury and currently Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. 
The Book of Taliesin: Poems of Warfare and Praise in an Enchanted Britain, translated byGwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams is published by Penguin Classics

Martin Sixsmith

Martin Sixsmith is a writer, presenter and journalist. He is a former ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ foreign correspondent and has worked for the British government as Director of Communications and Press Secretary to several cabinet ministers.
An Unquiet Heart is published by Simon & Schuster

Jay Bernard

Jay Bernard is a British writer, artist, film programmer, and activist.
Surge is published by Chatto & Windus

Kate Clanchy

Kate Clanchy is a poet and currently Writer in Residence at the comprehensive school Oxford Spires Academy, where she has nurtured creative talent among the pupils, many of whom have come to the UK as refugees. 
An anthology of the pupils’ poetry, England: Poems from a School was published by Macmillan in 2018. Her book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me was published earlier this year.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 24 Jun 2019 09:00
  • Mon 24 Jun 2019 21:30

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