Yorkshire Wolds food and Sewerby Hall ‘a sauce of inspiration’ for this year’s High Wolds Poetry Festival’s Poetry Kitchen

The food of the Yorkshire Wolds and Sewerby Hall and Gardens’ culinary history are ‘a sauce of inspiration’ for this year’s High Wolds Poetry Festival’s Poetry Kitchen.

The High Wolds Poetry Festival, held on Saturday, October 2, is a free afternoon celebration open mic festival for absolutely anyone of any age, to share their own or other people’s poetry.

Julian Woodford, festival director, said: “This year the festival is looking particularly tasty as it draws on the culinary history of East Riding Museums’ Sewerby Hall and Gardens and the food of the Yorkshire Wolds as ‘a sauce of inspiration’ for poets.”

This includes the launch of the festival’s Poetry Kitchen, a series of small, defined poetry workshops for selected local community groups who will be able to use artefacts and recipes from Sewerby Hall kitchens to develop original poetry.

Also on the festival menu to inspire new poetry is Boyle a Quart of Cream, The Housekeeping Book of Almary Greame of Sewerby Hall (1756-1812) by artist, poet and writer Robin Horspool, who has close connections to both Sewerby Hall and to the festival.

“Despite lockdown, last year’s festival went ahead very successfully and we want to carry on where we left off, so if you live in, love or know the high Wolds of East Yorkshire please send us your poems to go in the festival book and come along and share your poetry with us all,” added Woodford.

Caroline Coath, East Riding Museums assistant curator – community, who is helping develop the festival, said: “We are really looking forward to the workshops for community groups from the High Wolds area; particularly as this year the themes of the Wolds and the food produced and eaten there is to be our inspiration!”

Nial Adams, museums and archives manager, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “Once again, the council and our partners Arts Council England are delighted to continue the funding of this poetry festival which has revealed and continues to reveal the creativity of the people of the Wolds and the East Riding.”

The festival will publish a collection of work from poems submitted and will run an open mic, subject to social distancing measures and Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, at North Dalton on Saturday, October 2.

Entries for the custom-designed festival book are free and close at midnight on Friday, September 10 and can be sent by email to [email protected] or by post to The Festival Director, The High Wolds Poetry Festival, East Riding Museums, Treasure House, Champney Road, Beverley HU17 8HE.

Entries for the Open Mic are open until Friday, October 1, the day prior to the festival, which has been developed by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s East Riding Museums Service.

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