From the Brontës to Doctor Who – why poetry will always remain relevant

 

“Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.”

What do you think when you read this quote from performance poet Attila the Stockbroker? Does it resonate with your experience of poetry or do you see it as a provocation, a call to arms? A dynamic performer who tackles political and social subjects head on, Attila has appeared a few times at our Festival and there is no doubt that his shows bring poetry to new audiences.

Yet many of us still remember fondly lines of classic poems learned at school. Keats’ “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” on autumnal days; Hardy’s “I lent upon a coppice gate when frost was spectre-grey” on chilly winter mornings.

From heritage to diverse voices

Yorkshire (the theme of this year’s Festival) is of course known for its rich poetic heritage, from the Brontës to Ted Hughes, and in more recent times poets such as Simon Armitage, Andrew McMillan, Helen Mort and Kate Fox, all of whom have appeared at the Festival.

While we should continue to celebrate our heritage, it’s heartwarming that poetry now embraces more diverse voices, from Linton Kwesi Johnson and John Cooper Clarke to Kae Tempest and Joelle Taylor.

And two of our Festival Patrons, Lemn Sissay OBE and lisa luxx, have carved out a reputation for their extraordinary on-stage presence, mesmerising audiences not only with their words but also with their performance skills.

As the poet Eliezer Gore recently said in an Arts Council England interview: “what really got me writing was when I went to a Stormzy Merky Books ting and saw Kareem Parkins-Brown perform…I was stunned. Poetry was allowed to be fun and allowed to sound like me.”

Championing local talent

At HuddLitFest, we are proud to champion local talent and encourage new creative voices coming up from school age onwards.

Our annual Poetry Slam, hosted by the award-winning Canadian performance poet Rose Condo, is one of our most entertaining and popular events. Open Mic Nights and the Pennine Platform Launch allow new and established local poets to perform in a welcoming environment, and our showcase of the West Yorkshire Young Poet Laureates demonstrates the burgeoning talent of the younger generation.

Poetry can be a job!

Huddersfield is home to many well-established groups, like the Albert Poets, and to performance poets and rap artists such as Festival regulars Donavan Christopher (Rappaman), Rob Bradley and Joel Simmy.

All three have taken part in our main Festival and have taught workshops as part of our Schools Programme, which reached around 5,000 students in 2024 with a mix of workshops, assemblies and free resources.

The feedback has been incredibly positive, with students astonished to learn that you could do poetry as a job! Teachers have praised the poets’ ability to engage with the students and have reported on outcomes such as increased confidence. After Joel Simmy’s workshop at one school, 13 pupils approached their pastoral leader to ask for a personal journal so that they could continue to write at home.

Writing poetry may be a solitary pursuit, but performance and workshops allows it to become a life-affirming and inspirational shared activity.

Learning from the best

Our creative workshops are also a popular feature of the Festival – and this year we are excited to offer a Poetry Workshop with Yorkshire poet Chérie Taylor Battiste. Designed specially for the Festival theme, it will explore ideas around identity, heritage and self-discovery.

Poets of today

Last year we had a fantastic poetry and musical performance from the Poet Laureate  Simon Armitage. This year, we are thrilled to follow this up by welcoming the former National Poet of Scotland Jackie Kay.

I first met Jackie when I organised a women’s writing weekend for Mslexia magazine in 2019, and her performance and in conversation was one of the most entertaining and uplifting I’ve ever been fortunate enough to attend.

It’s bound to be one of the highlights of this year’s Festival – as is the return of stand-up performance poet Kate Fox. A Yorkshire born-and-bred talent, Kate will be teaching a Poetry Workshop and presenting her show Bigger on the Inside, a funny, thought-provoking and poetic trip through time and space, finding inspiration in Doctor Who and uncovering new ways to think about labels like Autism and ADHD.

It may be a far cry from the Keats and Hardy learned at school, but it shows the power of poetry to resonate with and remain relevant to each new generation.

For more information on forthcoming poetry events, visit: https://www.huddlitfest.org.uk/events/category/poetry/