ANNUAL REPORT 2018

Wordcloud of survey responses, 2018 Ledbury Poetry Festival

1

2

Chairman’s Report – Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018 Another ambitious and creative year saw the board of trustees keeping a steady grip on the wheel of the Festival schooner as it sailed through all the waves, large and small, that any organisation has to deal with. At a time when audiences are thinking twice about any form of expenditure and with a more testing and competitive funding scene to face up to, the Festival did experience a dip in ticket sales which was undoubtedly compounded by the many free events that we offer as much as by the more thought-provoking but challenging events put on. Despite this, the Board is more than confident that the future holds so many great ideas waiting to be implemented that the programme, both the July Festival and the year-round community and school programme, can only get better and will confirm Ledbury as the UK’s biggest and best poetry festival. Peter Arscott Chairman

Report on Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018 The Festival featured an eclectic range of events, from a poetic tour of eight Ledbury heritage sites, Tishani Doshi and Pascale Petit combining poetry and dance, Walled Garden Family Events to a reading and discussion in celebration of Martin Luther King. It featured a good number of high profile poets including Wendy Cope, Benjamin Zephaniah, , Hollie McNish, Sinéad Morrissey, Jo Shapcott, Caroline Bird and Liz Berry. Zaffar Kunial was poet in residence. Michael Palin performed a tribute to Adrian Mitchell. Miles Jupp and Chris Difford chatted about their ‘desert island poems’ and Henry Normal mixed comedy and poetry. The Festival featured musical events with Bob Stanley, James Yorkston, Alexis Taylor plus a poetry and music collaboration between Paul Henry and Brian Briggs. Events with particular local relevance included Stories from the Hop Yards, a Friends of the Dymock Poets presentation of Voices from the Great War, Poems and Tilley Printers and Found Voices with Sara-Jane Arbury.

An ambitious programme of American poets included Major Jackson, Linda Gregerson, Mark Doty, Marie Howe and Jericho Brown. Other international poets included the German poet Jan Wagner with his translator Iain Galbraith, Versopolis poets from Croatia, Poland and /Brittany and Colombian poet George Mario Angel Quintero. The Festival also presented a Ukrainian Translation Duel and a Sign Language Translation Duel, exploring the intricacies and mechanics of translation and comparing the choices translators make.

Ledbury partnered in an Arts Council funded project called Talking Transformations. Two poets, Deryn Rees Jones and Rafał Gawin wrote poems inspired by the theme Home and the poems went on a journey through translation following migratory patterns. (Home by Deryn Rees Jones was translated into French and Spanish and Dom by Rafał Gawin was translated into English and Romanian). This project was showcased and explored through an exhibition of artist films inspired by the poems, two poetry and art translation workshops, two schools’ workshops and a discussion event with Deryn and Rafał.

The Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics participated in a number of events, offering new perspectives on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Wallace Stevens and Emily Dickinson. Plus an event exploring The Role of the Poetry Critic. Feedback from one survey respondent: “I thought this was an excellent

3

idea for an event, ably chaired by Sandeep Parmar. The subject was so fascinating I would have happily attended a longer event on this topic with all the emerging critics involved.”

Emerging poets featured in 20 minute events, in the Ledbury Poetry Competition, National Poetry Competition and Eric Gregory Readings. The Festival showcased John Masefield High School students and Foyle Young Poets reading alongside established poets. Workshops and the Slam were as popular as ever. Events in partnership with magazines: Modern Poetry in Translation celebrated their LGBTQ focus and Poetry explored Poetry and Ritual. Discussion events highlighted the relevance of contemporary poetry through a range of themes including mental health, climate change, sexual violence, queer language and class politics. The Festival held talks on poets including W.H. Auden, Derek Walcott and an immersion day on Wallace Stevens’ poem The Man with the Blue Guitar.

An array of family and street performances throughout the Festival included the Ledbury Celebration Day on the High Street; The Live Poetry Jukebox combing poetry and art; Dr. Seuss and Box of Delights inspired activities in the Walled Garden; and Sally Crabtree in the Butcher Row House Museum bath!

The Festival championed its community outreach programmes in events such as Community Showcase; Being Heard, featuring young people from Hereford’s supported housing project SHYPP; and 21st Century Mental Health discussion drawing on the work LPF is doing with mental health charity MIND. Ledbury’s shops and businesses featured poetry artwork from the Festival’s Poetry Paradise Garden, a large-scale community poetry and art project.

In all it was a Festival brimming with innovation, creativity and community involvement: our volunteer base is constantly expanding, and they seem to work tirelessly on the Festival’s behalf. The Festival welcomed four interns and six Spanish students, here to help in the delivery of the Festival. One of the abiding images of the Festival is one of these students, Esther, captivating the crowds with an impromptu Flamenco performance in the Ledbury Celebration street party on the final day. Photo: Paul Ligas Photography

The Community Programme – overall participants 1,354 The Festival’s large-scale community artwork and poetry project “Poetry Paradise Garden” involved nearly 350 participants in 15 community and residential care settings across the county. Nursing homes were contacting us asking to take part. The project boasted an increase of over 100 more participants, and 5 additional settings from 2017’s previous project. Art and poetry is a powerful combination: it can stimulate memory and foster social interaction. Poetry Paradise Garden included “sensory poetry” for people with multiple and profound learning disabilities.

For the first time, artwork from the Poetry Paradise Garden project was displayed in shops and businesses in Ledbury. This was a response to shopkeepers who fedback that they wanted to take part in the Festival, and the shop windows display, but didn’t have the time to prepare their own

4

artwork. What could be better than the Festival providing shopkeepers with artwork from its community programme? Participants’ work was also displayed in an exhibition in the panelled room of the Master’s House, in the Burgage Hall, and in outdoor places throughout the town. The outdoor displays formed part of Ledbury in Bloom, closely co-ordinated with the Festival, and gratifyingly the town was awarded “Gold”.

Festival projects continue to reach out to other vulnerable groups across the county. The Festival has poets working with people suffering from chronic pain (NHS), in women-only settings, and with ex- offenders (probation service). New projects for 2018 include “Pictures and Poetry” at Hereford mental health charity, MIND, and poets working with Hereford Young Carers in Hereford, Ross and Leominster. The MIND partnership proved so fruitful that the Festival held a special event “The Power of Words: 21st Century Mental Health” featuring a panel of national mental health experts and advocates. The Young Carers are a particularly hard to reach segment, all the more so now that their funding has been axed by Herefordshire Council. The Festival was pleased to provide the groups with a platform for protest: a “Save Our Clubs” banner incorporating artwork and poetry from the groups was displayed on the railings of the Burgage Hall for the duration of the Festival. We will continue to work with them as long as the continuation of the groups allows.

The Festival’s Community Programme targets areas of need in the county that fall within the top 20% of national indices of multiple deprivation, with groups running in the forgotten corners of the county. The important youth strand with SHYPP (Supported Housing for Young People Project) in Hereford continued, culminating in the “Being Heard” Festival event. One audience member wrote: “This combination of traditional poetry, rap and film conveys important messages. It is vital to hear voices that might not normally be showcased otherwise”.

The Festival held a “Community Showcase” event, extended to 1 ½ hours, to allow participants from the Community Programme performance opportunities. The event was graced with first-time performers from disability charity Echo with very moving renditions of their poetry created with poet Carol Graham.

The Festival’s Community Programme includes step-up opportunities for budding poets from workshop settings with supported performance events at the summer festival, and throughout the year. There were poetry salons, poetry slams and open mic’s, including for the first time in 2018, a Women’s Open Mic held at Hereford International Women’s Day. The Community Programme is a thriving and vibrant part of the Festival’s year round work and is touching many hundreds of lives.

The Schools’ Programme - overall participants 2,045 The schools’ programme in 2018 saw the expansion of the Festival in a Day offer to schools. Each day took place at Hellens Manor and involved a performance, three workshops and a pupil showcase. 9 days were delivered in total with 11 schools, 517 pupils and 7 different poets. Teacher feedback was excellent: “As a class teacher, it was a pleasure to see my children so fully engaged in different types of poetry. Particularly with a boy-heavy class, this can be a challenge but the poets effortlessly engaged and inspired them to write their own and group poems. Seeing the confidence of the children as they recited their poetry showed how proud the children were of their own compositions.”

5

The Festival continued its creation of digital poetry trails. Schoolchildren in three separate projects in Ledbury, Bosbury and Much Marcle worked with poets to create poems around heritage buildings and unique locations. The poems were then turned into short films and QR codes with Mark Sanderson from Herefordshire Computing Support, very much in the style of two previous projects, Ledbury Benches (2016) and Ledbury Doors (2017). In Ledbury, the project was called “Found Voices” in partnership with Joined Up Heritage. The Bosbury Bards poems are showcased on the Ledbury Poetry Festival website, along with other work that the project inspired. Residents and visitors to Ledbury, Bosbury and Much Marcle can access the performance poems by using a smart phone or tablet to scan the QR codes that can be found at each location. Students were involved in the making of the films and had to ensure their poetry worked well across the digital media used.

The Festival continued its schools work offering an inset day for schools with “renowned and inspirational poet educator” Jacob Sam La Rose. Jacob also worked with schoolchildren from Whitecross High School, and Aconbury PRU whilst in the county. The poet in residence scheme for Aconbury PRU continued with Raymond Antrobus returning for the second time. Afternoon sessions with year 9 pupils at Weobley High School, which has close links with Aconbury PRU, ensured that Raymond’s time was used effectively.

Brenda Read Brown continued as Poet in Residence for John Masefield High School, where she focussed on developing group performance and building oral confidence and performance over the course of our sessions. The Ledbury Primary School Writing Club has continued with guest appearances from visiting and local poets, while the Young Shakespeare performance again proved popular with schools, performing Macbeth to 184 pupils.

The Festival also partnered in an exciting project called Talking Transformations exploring what ‘home’ means at a time when notions of ‘home’ in Europe are becoming more fluid, being challenged and reshaped by unprecedented migration. Poets led three workshops for Year 7-11 students at Pershore High School and Whitecross High School exploring ‘home’ through language, poetry and art. Students experimented with language and art to explore what ‘home’ means to them and what it might mean to others. Students produced straight-forward literary translations, drawings and paintings, two rap versions, a dance, a mini-drama, two performance pieces including spoken word and mime as well as a host of new poetry, and these were showcased in a special interactive exhibition during the Festival.

The schools programme is continuing to innovate and expand, with an exciting project in the 2018 Autumn term on the Holocaust and Kindertransport. Poet Aviva Dautch lead workshops offering pupils the opportunity to read and write poems inspired by the Kindertransport, using the idea of journeys and what we leave behind. This theme is relevant today, when unprecedented numbers of refugees find themselves compelled to leave their homes and journey to another country.

New! Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics 2017-8 saw the founding of the Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics scheme to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing culture and support emerging critical voices. Open to budding BAME poetry critics resident in the UK, the scheme offered an intensive mentorship programme, including workshops,

6

one-to-one mentorship and critical feedback on the writing of a poetry review. The scheme has been phenomenally successful with reviews and articles written up in national press such as The Telegraph and , as well as in highly esteemed poetry publications such as The Poetry Review, PN review, and the Poetry Book Society. (See Appendix C Press Coverage)

Audiences (1/09/2017 – 31/08/2018) Well, a scorching hot summer and a well performing national football team may have impacted the attendance figures for the 10 day summer festival! Still, they numbered a very healthy 9,403. It was also to be expected that we would not reach the dizzy heights of 2017 numbers as that was our 21st celebratory year. However the overall audience figure has remained buoyant with higher numbers of participants in the community and schools’ programmes resching a very respectable 12,997, still well over the 10,000 watershed.

As last year, audiences who completed the Audience Finder Survey reported a very high net promotional score with 82% of visitors very likely/ extremely likely to recommend the Festival, against a national average for 70% for literature arts organisations. In other comparatives, the Festival rates highly. Of 369 responses (last year 550):

Audience rating on Ledbury Poetry Festival National Average (Literature) Value for money 67% Very Good 60% Very Good Quality of Offer 69% Very Good 74 % Very Good The Whole Experience 76% Very Good 69 % Very Good

Box Office, Audience Finder and Survey Monkey data show our audience is drawn mainly from the local area, but there is a very large number of the highly engaged Metrocultural segment which is largely unseen outside (9% of respondents compared with 2% for other arts organisations in the West Midlands). This is a phenomenal achievement considering the Festival’s rural location, and shows the national pre-eminence of Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Online Audience Visits to the Festival website have increased to nearly 41k. As with last year, Google analytics show a high proportion (61%) of visitors are aged 18 – 44. There has been an increase in web visits from the older age groups, possibly due to the fact we trialled a new box-office system with vastly optimised on-line ticket buying, and this directed some of our regular audience to the site. The trend continues for increased access to the site from mobile devices (phones up 6%, tablets up 2%, desktops down 7%). With our technical advisor David Hewitt, we ensure the site’s functionality across all devices. Whilst upgrading the website to host the new ticket system, we took the opportunity to revamp the website appearance. It now includes a headline menu of posts which are constantly renewed. This enables us to quickly make announcements of the many Festival activities and news items and keep the content fresh. The Festival’s facebook page is nearing 2,700 likes. This is below our target, and possibly reflects the fact that facebook continually alters its metrics, and that it is losing ground in the fiercely competitive social media stakes. It is still a highly useful tool for getting the Festival’s message out – particularly so when linked with local organisations and community pages. The Festival’s twitter page has seen a massive rise, at over 5,800 followers. It is now our go-to social media channel, with

7

a highly active cohort of young poets and users, and was particularly effectively employed with the national Ledbury Emerging Critics campaign. Similarly, the Festival’s You Tube channel has also seen a massive increase in views, up 80% to 5,400 views compared with the same period last year. The most viewed video is still Frieda Hughes with Tony Hoagland a close second. This reflects the value of the Festival films as an archive: there have been a large number of views of the several Tony Hoagland videos since the sad announcement of his untimely death at the age of 62. The videos are unrepeatable and a valuable legacy of performances of poets. Podcast listens number 5,692 in the above 12 month period, a lower figure than the same period last year. However this is counterbalanced by the large increase in listens/downloads of Poetry Salon podcasts which number 1313 and which are again proving to be valuable archive material. Pleasingly, the Festival has just been placed in the top 30 international poetry podcasts by Feedspot. The Festival audience is invited every year to participate in an online poetry submission – rather like an online open mic, focussed around a particular theme or prompt. This year it is the “Troubadour of the Hills” project in collaboration with Malvern Hills AONB, with poet Jean Atkins in the troubadour role. Previous years have been “Poetica Botanica”, “The Poetry Orchard” and “Fantastic Beasts”. It’s a great way to interact with the digital poetry community and often results in a festival event and/or anthology.

Board and Patrons At the helm of the Trustees sits Peter Arscott who as a co-founder of the Festival has immense expertise and knowledge. Retired banker David Ingram has served loyally as Festival Treasurer, and has been replaced as Treasurer by newcomer Simon Scott. David, however, still remains on the Board. We have said goodbye to community poet Sara-Jane Arbury who nevertheless still plays a key role in the Community Programme and welcomed David Punter from the Bristol Poetry Institute, joined by Lindsay Jackson, proprietor of Ledbury Books and Maps Bookshop. The remaining strong and committed board members are , editor of , Ursula Owen, founder of Virago Books and the Free Word Centre, practising poet and Youth representative Jasmine Gardosi, arts expert Peter Salt, John Masefield Society member Chris Noel, and local representative Nigel Falls. We benefit from Patrons who care passionately and advocate tirelessly on the Festival’s behalf, most particularly Adam Munthe whose generosity and hospitality at Hellens knows no bounds, and ex-Minister for the Arts Mark Fisher. Other patrons include former Poet Laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy, Sir Roy Strong, Hay Festival’s Peter Florence and actress Juliet Stevenson.

Volunteers and Interns. To the Festival’s tireless volunteers we say “Thank You”. Clearly, delivery of the Festival relies very heavily on volunteer involvement, and we are hugely indebted to the commitment of many – for driving, accommodating, helping at Hospitality, stewarding and event managing. The ranks of volunteers continue to swell due to active recruitment and the Festival’s genuine concern that all volunteers are valued and given an enjoyable time with the Festival. At Christmas, all volunteers are invited to evening of entertainment and poetry in a gesture of thanks away from the busy-ness of the Festival, and to hear a select preview of the festival ahead, and it is always an enjoyable informal occasion.

8

Tally of Volunteer Hours. Over 140 volunteers Hospitality 240 hours Stewarding 64 stewards, 350 hours Accommodation 179 nights (last year 194) Event Managers 33 managers managing 113 events Drivers 150 hours Interns: four Festival interns 600 hours Window Competition Co-ordinator 50 hours Office Admin – 3 volunteers all year round 500 hours

In addition, we had 6 Spanish students for the duration of the Festival helping in many varied ways, but most particularly in face-to-face surveys and interviews required by Arts Council England’s Audience Finder.

Funding Arts Council England are the Festival’s main funders. For the core programme, the Festival is indebted to the Elmley Foundation. The Pennington Mellor Munthe Charity Trust generously supports the Festival’s innovative schools’ programme, and support for the community programme comes from the Garfield Weston Foundation (whose 60th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace the Festival attended). The Versopolis project continues with Creative Europe Funding. The Foyle Foundation generously supported the Festival’s sector-leading programme for new writers. A diverse range of funding sources are found every year through bespoke applications, and we are very grateful to every trust, charitable foundation and individual sponsor for supporting the Festival’s valuable work. Please see Appendix B for full list. New funding initiatives for 208 included the Festival’s Unity Lottery, and the sale of bespoke Emma Bridgewater mugs.

Ledbury Town and Environs Relationships with many organisations and individuals within the town were strengthened by the hugely successful Town Party held on the last day of the Festival. This ambitious event required months of planning and many hours of meeting time with Ledbury Town Council Events Committee, Ledbury Food Group, Ledbury Fringe, Ledbury Rotary and Ledbury Town Traders. In addition to the fantastic music, poetry and dance entertainment put on by the Poetry Festival, and the food produce market by Ledbury Food Group, the day included much local engagement. The net of involvement reached far and wide befitting the careful preparation and level of investment put in, and was a truly cohesive experience. In addition to the above groups, the Festival has partnerships with Ledbury Places (historical buildings), Ledbury Civic Society, Ledbury in Bloom, the Market Theatre, Ledbury Baptist Hall, St Michaels and All Angels Church, and Ledbury Community Hall. The Festival endeavours as far as possible to use local services and champion local producers. Local bread, cheese, meats, poetry pork pies, cider, apple juice, strawberries and flowers are donated to hospitality and the Poets’ Cider Supper. The local wine merchant sells wine at cost. The town’s two independent bookshops are fully utilised as book sellers with one a valued Festival venue. Many town hotels are either Festival or Fringe venues, or both! Local heritage manor house Hellens is a beautiful setting for Festival events, having superb facilities for Festival residential courses, and

9

playing host to a number of visiting poets. We believe that the Festival is an exemplar for sustainable rural, economic and cultural activity.

Poetry Competition 2018 The Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition has been an important first step in many poets’ careers. Jacob Polley, winner of the 2016 T.S. Eliot Award, started his career with a win at Ledbury in 2001. Other previous winners include Maitreyabandhu (2010), Jonathan Edwards (2014) and the 2017 T.S. Eliot shortlisted Jacqueline Saphra (2007). The Competition is increasingly international with the previous two years won by Americans Jonathan Greenhause (2017) and Miller Oberman (2016). The Festival prides itself on a lasting relationship with its competition entrants and winners: many are asked back for performances, residencies and workshops.

The 2018 competition judge Nia Davies wrote: “I feel honoured to have had a special private view of the kind of things people are thinking about through the medium of poetry right now. People are deeply concerned about homelessness and the earth, but they’re also funny and kind and loving. The winners and runners up were the poems that, as well as taking a sideways glance at a subject, also stretched and invigorated language and the form of the poem itself”

To read these poems, with judge’s comments, and poet biographies, please see http://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/ledbury-poetry-competition/

Winning Poets: Adults First Prize: R.T.A. Parker ‘All The Bleak Chippies’ Second Prize: Pam Thompson, UK, ‘Through the Hologram’ Third Prize: Robbie Burton UK, ‘Deeds’

Young People 12 - 18: First Prize: Annie Fan, UK, ‘essay on grief/ a holiday’ Second Prize: Georgie Woodhead, UK, ‘Collins’ Third Prize: Lauren Edwards, UK, ‘The Night You Attacked Me’

Children 11 and under: First Prize: Aurora B Blue, UK, ‘Tinned Life’ Second Prize: Maxwell Heavens, UK, ‘Six Ways to Look at a Word’ Third Prize: Mrugakshi, India, ‘Forgiveness to Forgiveness’

Further comments and the winning poems can be found on the Festival website. We would like to thank Tŷ Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales, for supporting the competition, as they have done for many years.

10

APPENDIX A Personnel ORGANISATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS PATRONS Peter Arscott (Chair) David Ingram Dame Carol Ann Duffy Adam Munthe Neil Astley Chris Noel Ursula Owen OBE Juliet Stevenson CBE Sara-Jane Arbury (retired) Ursula Owen Mark Fisher Lawrence Sail Brenda Read-Brown (retired) David Punter (new) Peter Florence MBE Naomi Shihab-Nye Nigel Falls Peter Salt Lord Gowrie Penelope Shuttle Jasmine Gardosi Simon Scott (Treasurer) Jackie Kay Sir Roy Strong Lindsay Jackson (new) Gerry Isaaman OBE All directors of Ledbury Poetry Festival Limited are also trustees of the Registered Charity.

FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FESTIVAL MANAGER FINANCE MANAGER Chloe Garner Phillippa Slinger Sandra Dudley

FUNDING & SPONSORSHIP BOX OFFICE POETRY TREASURY Sandra Dudley Sandra Dudley COMPETITION & ACCOUNTS Chloe Garner Freya Henderson Sandra Dudley David Ingram Phillippa Slinger Anita Scott Jane Curry Sandra Dudley John Rose Hilary Davis Simon Scott ARTISTIC DIRECTION Phillippa Slinger YEAR ROUND COMMUNITY & PROGRAMMING YEAR ROUND SCHOOLS WEBSITE PROGRAMME Chloe Garner PROGRAMME Chloe Garner Phillippa Slinger IT Chloe Garner David Hewitt FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL David Hewitt Phillippa Slinger Sandra Dudley

PRODUCTION OF SUMMER FESTIVAL: VOLUNTEER EVENT MANAGERS ACCOMMODATION FIRST AID Angela France John Rose Phillippa Slinger Sandra Dudley Ann Dex Lottie Mapp Bethany Rivers Marie Harris HOSPITALITY STEWARDS Brenda Read-Brown Nancy Goodchild Sue Hamblin Sandra Dudley Carol Graham Neil Astley Claire Finch Parami MacMillan INTERNS PRESS Danasamudra Whitelaw Peter Arscott Freya Henderson Becky Fincham Bigmouth PR Emily Wood Peter Carter Katharina Engel Chloe Garner Freya Henderson Peter Diamond Lottie Mapp Phillippa Slinger Graham Sterry RIck Sanders Emily Wood Hilary Benoit Rosemary Diamond Hilary Davis Samantha Pearse TRAVEL & DRIVERS SOUND & LIGHTING Jill Abram Sheila Wilson Phillippa Slinger Stuart Davies Jo Taylor-Greig Trisha Bannister John Birks Viv Arscott WINDOW DISPLAY BOOKSHOPS COMPETITION Three Counties Bookshop GRIPS WALKS AND CYCLE RIDES Vicky Baker Ledbury Books & Maps Jakub Lukaszonek Bella Johnson Pez Slinger Jean Atkin MARKET THEATRE SIGNS Paul Graham Sandra Dudley Pat Strauss John Rose

11

APPENDIX B SPONSORS AND FUNDERS The Ledbury Poetry Festival acknowledges with grateful thanks the vital support of Arts Council England (West Midlands) and the donations, sponsorship and assistance of the following:

The Year Round The Summer Festival Friends of the Dymock Community Programme Bloodaxe Books Poets Aviva Creative Europe Programme Friends of the Festival Barchester Foundation of the European Union Greendawn Accounting The Co-Op Elmley Foundation Hellens Manor Esmée Fairbairn Foundation E-merging Creativity John Goodwin Eveson Charitable Trust Ledbury and District Civic John Martinez Friends of Ledbury and Society Jo Kingham District Healthcare Ledbury Food Group Judy and Alan Lloyd Garfield Weston Ledbury Town Council LJI Joanies Fund Market Theatre Ledbury Ledbury Area Cycling Forum Santander Foundation Mslexia Ledbury Film Club W A Cadbury Poetry Society Ledbury Funeral Services Waitrose Community Rowlands Trust Orme and Slade Matters Versopolis Rotary Club of Ledbury Sitara Restaurant The Year Round Schools’ The Poetry Competition Tilley Printing Programme Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre Viv Arscott Matthew Hodder/ The Book Severnprint Wendy and Stuart Trade Charity Houghton Old Possum’s Practical Trust Performers’ presents Worcestershire Branch of Pennington-Mellor-Munthe The Festival is grateful to The English-Speaking Union Charity Trust John Burns, instigator of the Robert Gavron Charitable Ledbury Poetry Festival, for Business Sponsors Trust helping to fund the A.B.E. Limited Sir John Middlemore commemorative bowls Authentic Bread Company Charitable Trust presented to each Charles Martell Cheeses Tesco Bags of Hope performer. Chase Distillery The bowls were made by The Feathers Hotel New and Emerging Writers HCA student Ruth Cameron Gurneys Butchers Programme Swan Ledbury Books and Maps The Foyle Foundation The Talbot Hotel Event Sponsors DT Waller and Sons Butcher The Ledbury Forte Second Alison and Nigel Falls Your Name On It Collection Prize Ann and David Tombs Polizzi Charitable Trust BRM Butler and Sweatman Mrs Carolyn Beves

12

APPENDIX C National newsletter coverage/ social media mentions The Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018 PR campaign was created and managed by Becky Fincham, Director of Bigmouth Book Events, Festivals, Tours & PR www.bigmouthpresents.com and ran from October 2017 to July 2018. The PR strategy built on the momentum of Bigmouth’s 21st anniversary PR campaign in 2017 and worked to raise the festival’s profile in the literary and national media and to drive ticket sales. The 2018 Ledbury Poetry Festival PR campaign generated coverage for the Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018, the winners of the Ledbury Poetry Competition 2017 and the Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics scheme, working with the scheme's founders Sandeep Parmar and Sarah Howe to secure coverage and commissions for the mentees to review poetry in the national media. PR Campaign highlights An audience of over 40.5 million poetry and culture lovers were reached directly through print, broadcast and online media coverage for Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018 over 10 months (excludes social media impact) Over 35 media outlets covered the festival through individual artist interviews, written features, festival previews, listings and more including The Guardian, , The Telegraph, Sunday Times, i newspaper, Financial Times, TLS, BBC Radio 4, BBC 6Music, BBC Radio 3, talkRADIO, Woman & Home, Country & Town House, Waitrose Weekend, The Lady, Wales Arts Review, Compass, Poetry News, Culturised. Individual interviews with artists including Michael Palin, Hollie McNish, Zaffar Kunial, Sinéad Morrissey, Joelle Taylor, James Yorkston, Bob Stanley, Anna Woodford on topics ranging from Michael Palin’s love of Adrian Mitchell’s poetry on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends to Zaffar Kunial as the festival’s Poet in Residence to Bob Stanley and James Yorkston on the relationship between poetry and songwriting on BBC Radio 6Music. Features written by Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018 artists on topics including How To Read A Poem, Race and Poetry Reviewing, Language Journeys, #UsToo, Cynhebrwng Aer / Air Burial by poets ranging from Jade Cuttle to Mererid Hopwood to Deborah Alma. What the media said about Ledbury Poetry Festival 2018: “If poetry is your passion, try Ledbury, in the Malvern Hills near Hereford. Somehow, festivals seem to thrive in small and pretty towns, and Ledbury hosts a glorious 10-day early-summer immersion in poetry of all sorts, with a good international line-up of names to savour and discover. The atmosphere is quieter and perhaps more intense than at Hay; definitely recommended for devotees” Financial Times 'It’s a brilliant thing the Ledbury Poetry Festival, I’ve been there a few times, it’s a brilliant place... go to it if you can” Stuart Maconie, BBC 6Music “It’s 10 days of amazing poets…and all sorts of performers. It’s incredible” Nikki Bedi, BBC Radio 4

Local News coverage: The Ledbury Reporter, Hereford Times, Worcester Evening News, The Malvern Gazette, Ledbury Focus, BBC radio Hereford and Worcester, Welsh Border Life, Live 24 Seven, Broad Sheep

13

Appendix D Poets/ Performers Appearing at the 2018 Festival

Raymond Antrobus Patrick Gale Sandeep Parmar Jill Abram Chloe Garner Michael Pennington Deborah Alma Rafał Gawin* (Poland) Manuela Perteghella Sara Jane Arbury Raine Geoghegan Pascale Petit Neil Astley Roz Goddard Kathy Pimlott Jean Atkin Dawn Gorman Anna Pincus Tomica Bajsić (Croatia) Linda Gregerson (US) Clare Pollard Rob Barratt Richard Gwyn Kyra Pollitt Jo Bell Emma Hammond David Punter Dzifa Benson David Harding George Mario Angel Quintero John Bentley Paul Henry (Colombia) Liz Berry Jake Herbst Nisha Ramayya Caroline Bird Maryam Hessavi Lou Raoul (France) Marilyn Birks Mererid Hopwood Peter Raynard Matt Black Marie Howe (US) Brenda Read-Brown Uilleam Blacker Nasser Hussain Deryn Rees Jones Brian Briggs Lesley Ingram Nico Reznick Jericho Brown (US) Major Jackson (US) Sam Riviere Judy Brown Lucy Johnstone Shauna Darling Robertson Elizabeth Jane Burnett Miles Jupp Roger Robinson John Burns Kateryna Kalytko (Ukraine) Steve Rooney Miles Chambers Jackie Kay John Rowlands-Pritchard Mary Jean Chan Vanessa Kisuule Tristram Fane Sanders Maya Chowdhry Cecilia Knapp Anna Saunders Sarah Churchwell Srishti Krishnamoorthy-Cavell Richard Scott Polly Clark Zaffar Kunial Elisabeth Sennitt Clough John Clegg Rachel Lambert Jo Shapcott Matthew Clegg Lachlan MacKinnon Tony Sharpe Jane Commane Sue MacLaine Iryna Shuvalova Wendy Cope Sabrina Mahfouz Michał Sobol (Poland) Josephine Corcoran Maitreyabandhu Bob Stanley Sally Crabtree Nick Makoha Alexis Taylor Sarah Crown John McCullough Joelle Taylor Jade Cuttle Kurly McGeachie Rhys Trimble Margaret Dallow Jamie McKendrick Jennifer Lee Tsai Ailbhe Darcy (Ireland/UK) Hollie McNish Ricarda Vidal* Nia Davies Sasha Mitchell Jan Wagner (Germany) Noèlia Díaz-Vicedo* (Spain) Kim Moore Jo Watson Chris Difford Sinead Morrissey William Wootten Tishani Doshi (India/Wales) Peter Moser Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch Mark Doty (US) Martyn Moxley James Yorkston Sasha Dugdale Adie Mueller Benjamin Zephaniah Jonathan Edwards Henry Normal *Talking Transformations project Sarala Estruch Ursula Owen featuring poetry in translation Paul Farmer Michael Palin from Romania, Poland, France, Martin Figura Judith Palmer Spain and the UK Mark Fisher Danny Pandolfi Iain Galbraith John Parham

14

Appendix E Audience Figures 2018 Including concessions and comps, not including performers’ passes

Ticketed events: 2018 2017 2016 Readings 1,090 1,934 Performances 1,117 1,651 Workshops 130 144 Talks and Discussions 848 1,098 Musical events 453 306 Walks and Tours 119 75 Family Events 166 134 Films 159 126 Total ticketed events 4,082 5,468 4,908

Free Events: Free ticketed events – included in 292 535 above figures Free non-ticketed events (Being Heard, 103 - Community Showcase) Exhibition Talking Transformations, 95 - Home on the Move 20 min readings actual 323 500 est Free Walled Garden Family Day* 800 800 A Great Ledbury Celebration* and 4,000 5,000 other free street events

Participants Poetry Salons est 175 175 Community Programme** 1,354 968 Schools’ Programme** 2,045 1,395

TOTAL 12,997 15,278 9,829

Digital Audience Twitter (cumulative followers) 5,800 5,000 Facebook (cumulative likes) 2,700 2,500 Website (visits per year) 41,000 40,000 Podcast (listens per year) 5,692 10,800 You Tube (views per year) 5,400 3,000 TOTAL DIGITAL 60,592 61,300 n/a *these free events were clicked for a ½ hour period and estimates extrapolated **mostly actual attendance figures, with some estimates

15

Appendix F

Ledbury Poetry Festival Ltd. Draft accounts for 12 month period ended 31/10/18

Previous Year 2017 Current Year 2018 Income £ £ £ £

Box Office Sales 45,649 37,633 Public Funding 69,778 75,670 Private Funding 81,590 90,064 Poetry Competition Income 5,259 3,768 Friends Subscriptions 2,925 2,641 Sundry Income 2,425 5,179 207,626 214,955

Expenses

Payroll Costs 67,385 69,330 Admin Costs 10,650 10,341 Rent 3,850 4,314 Poetry Competition 2,684 3,152 IT equipment and Maintenance 2,727 1,819 Cost of Community programme 25,164 21,720 Cost of School Programme 17,641 14,685 Emerging Poets / New Writers 13,994 8,000 Emerging Critics 0 6,827 E-Merging Creativity 14,409 13,811 Festival and Event Costs 57,210 48,266 215,714 202,265

Increase/Decrease in Reserves -8,088 12,690

Total Reserves as at 31/10/18 45,691 58,381

Restricted: - - Community Fund 8,544 27,812 - Schools Programme 7,688 6,265 - Emerging Critics 4,935 0 - New Writers 0 4,000

Unrestricted 24,524 20,304

16