ProgrammeINSPIRING WONDER AND

ENCOURAGING CURIOSITY THROUGH THOUGHT PROVOKING TALKS, MUSIC, PERFORMANCES,

STORIES AND POETRY.

12th - 21st September across Canterbury

ABOUT WISE WORDS FESTIVAL:

Wise Words is an award winning festival of poetry and arts, taking place across Canterbury between the 12th – 21st September 2014. It aims to reawaken wonder and inspire curiosity through a programme of thought provoking thoughts, music, performances, stories and poetry.

Poets on apple boxes popping up on street corners; storytellers performing in punts, your favourite authors in yurts, interactive installations in the gardens, a Wondrous World of Rhyme for families and street theatre happening across the city. As night falls you can enjoy a pedal-powered cinema under the stars.

The majority of events take place in the beautiful Greyfriars Franciscan ’secret’ Garden just off Stour Street, but you will also see the city centre bustling with activity. Workshops are taking place in the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge; the Westgate Gardens will be transformed into a Poetry Park and a poem will be projected large across the outside of the Revivals shop building on the High Street each night.

TICKETS:

Online ticket sales close on September 11th after which tickets can be bought at the door or in advance at our box office in the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens.

To see a more detailed programme go to our website: www.wisewordsfestival.co.uk

Friday 12th

THE PRINCESS’ BLANKETS | UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and musician John Sampson | Expect oodles of thrills, spills, toots, hoots, rhymes, rhythms, fun, frolics, grins, giggles and much, much more. Suitable for children aged between 5-10 years. 13:00 - 14:00 | GULBENKIAN | £5

INVISIBLE KISSES | A performance by Lemn Sissay MBE | Fusing the lyrical and the polemical, up-beat humour and deadly seriousness – Lemn’s performances are notorious for their powerful energy and dynamism | We are also offering you a chance to see an innovative response to one of Lemn’s most well known poems ‘Invisible Kisses’- a work in progress. 18:30 - 19:30 | GULBENKIAN | £8

AN EVENING WITH POET LAUREATE CAROL ANN DUFFY | Carol Ann Duffy is that rare thing: a truly popular poet. This is an opportunity to hear her read from her own work, with its combination of tenderness and toughness, humour and lyricism, unconventional attitudes and conventional forms. She is joined by the virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and actor John Sampson. 20:30 - 21:30 | GULBENKIAN | £10

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING (OR HEART-PROVOKING) TALK |John Siddique on Living Authentically | John is a powerful arresting and provacative voice both on the page and off. Acclaimed novelist Bina Shah says he is ‘One of the best poets of our generation.’ 11:00 - 12:00 | THE YURT | £5

ACROJOU | Street Theatre that will surprise, delight and amaze. Look out for performances by Acrojou at 12:00, 14:00 and 15:30 ALL DAY | TOWN CENTRE | FREE

Acrojou: performing Friday 12th John Siddique, our poet in residence: performing throughout festival

MORNING COFFEE WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | Join John Siddique, for his morning coffee and journal writing session | No writing experience necessary, just bring a pen and notebook! 09:30 - 10:30 | WATER LANE COFFEEHOUSE | FREE

POP-UP FLASHBACK - WITH WORD PEPPER THEATRE | A peformance for families | Enter an imaginative world of memories through poetry and incredible pop-up books in this funny and heart-warming adventure of complicated families and growing up. 10:30 - 11:20 | THE LEARNING LAB, THE BEANY | FREE

A CITY OF FOXES | A narrative poetry performance by Becci Fearnly | A City of Foxes is a narrative poetry piece about what it really means to be British in the 21st century and how claustrophobic or wonderfully liberating this can be. 11:00 - 12:00 | THE YURT | FREE

TRANSFORMING THE WESTGATE GARDENS INTO A POETRY PARK | A writing workshop with Sarah Salway | Come along and write a poem inspired by the gardens to be hung in the trees. 11:00 - 13:00 | THE MAIN LAWN, THE WESTGATE GARDENS | FREE

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | With singer-songwriter Emily Watts | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:00 - 13:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

COUNT ME IN: PRE-SHOW WORKSHOP | A pre-show workshop exploring the numbers that are important in your lives. The words you write will be part of the later show. Can we count you in? 14:00 - 16:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

COUNT ME IN | An immersive spoken word theatre show that takes place during one night in a Bingo Hall. We all play the game and as the numbers are called, Don, Maureen and Judi reveal their true selves – their memories, anniversaries, regrets, mistakes, joys, hopes and dreams. A show about numbers and YOU. 18:00 - 19:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

AFTERNOON TEA WITH JANE GARDAM | Jane will read from and discuss her latest book The Stories. 16:00 - 17:30 | THE YURT | £5

AN EVENING WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | John is well known for his captivating readings and his infectious love of literature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as well as the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at York St. John University. Join us for a wonderful evening of poetry. 19:30 - 21:00 | THE YURT | £5

Saturday 13thONCE UPON A TIME, A WONDROUS WORLD OF RHYME | Performances and workshops for the young & young at heart! ALL DAY | THE MEADOW | PERFORMANCES: FREE | WORKSHOPS: £4

Sunday 14thONCE UPON A TIME, A WONDROUS WORLD OF RHYME | Performances and workshops for the young & young at heart! ALL DAY | THE MEADOW | PERFORMANCES: FREE | WORKSHOPS: £4

THE POETRY EXCHANGE | Inviting you to book individual sessions to share a poem that has been a friend to you and to explore it in conversation with an actor and writer. From this conversation a unique recording of your chosen poem, inspired by your insights and thoughts, will be created by the Poetry Exchange Team and sent back to you as a gift. ALL DAY| THE FRANCISCAN CHAPEL | FREE

CINE-BOAT (UNDERGROUND PEARL) | A two-seater fishing boat has been temporarily converted into a cinema. Step in and enjoy Michael Tyburski’s Angelfish - A film about a restless young man who moves to live aboard a sailboat. ALL DAY | GREYFRIARS FRANCISCAN GARDENS | FREE

THE BRITTLE SEA | Paul Henry is the author of nine books of verse. Originally a songwriter, he has read and performed his work at literary festivals across Europe, Asia and the USA. He is currently Ledbury Poetry Festival’s poet in residence. 11:00 - 12:00 | THE YURT | £5

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | With singer-songwriter Banu | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:00 - 13:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

REACHING ACROSS DIFFERENCE | A reading and discussion with John Siddique | In a time when so many consider poetry to be of little relevance, here is a writer that has never been more relevant to the questions of today and the people we are. In a world distraught with crises and confrontation his poems reach across difference. 13:30 - 14:30 | THE YURT | £5

A SALON EVENT | Kath Abiker will facilitate a salon-style conversation around how objects taken out of place and re situated have the capacity to engage the viewer in social interaction which creates a new type of community via discourse around the object, the viewer and their lives. 17:00 - 18:00 | THE YURT | FREE

HOW THE ISLAMIC STATE CREATED THE CALIPHATE AND WILL IT EXPAND OR IMPLODE? | Talk by Patrick Cockburn | Middle East correspondant for the Indepedant 15:00 - 16:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

STREET SLAM | Worlds will fly as poets battle for your vote to become the king or queen of the Street Slam! ALL DAY | HIGH STREET | FREE

MORNING COFFEE WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | Join John Siddique, our poet in residence, for his morning coffee and journal writing session | No previous writing experience necessary, just bring a pen and notebook! 09:30 - 10:30 | WATER LANE COFFEEHOUSE | FREE

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | With singer-songwriter Dan Wilde | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:00 - 13:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

A CELEBRATION OF POETRY AS A CATALYST FOR WELLBEING | With poetry therapist Victoria Field | Victoria and participants of her workshops will share their experience of poetry as a catalyst for wellbeing. They will read from their work and we will celebrate the launch of a beautiful poetry pamphlet. 13:30 - 15:00 | THE COMMUNITY ROOM, THE BEANEY | FREE

FULL OF NOISES | Victoria Field and Eduard Heyning | Poetry and music exploring, among other themes, the enchantment of islands. In the intimate space of Greyfriars Chapel, they will weave sounds and sweet airs to take the audience on a journey that will include Iona and Lindisfarne and the islands of the imagination. 18:00 - 19:30 | THE FRANCISCAN CHAPEL | £5

WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN TODAY? | Through short films and poetry, this event continues our exploration of what ‘community’ means today. Are our priorities shifting? Are we once again placing value on the small moments in life – the things that touch our hearts; the idiosyncrasies of human nature – what unifies and what defines us as individual? 20:00 - 21:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

APPLIED MATHEMATICS | Canterbury Laureate Dan Simpson | Videogame verse and sci-fi-filled stanzas combine with meta-metre in an engaging show that launches Dan’s first collection of poetry from Burning Eye Books. 18:30 - 19:30 | THE YURT | £5

PETE THE TEMP VS. CLIMATE CHANGE | In this pedal-powered, multimedia, theatrical, stand up poetry show, Pete tells the story of some of the sticky situations he gets into on his quest to stop climate chaos. Will he succeed? 20:00 - 21:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

Monday 15th

Greyfriars Franciscan Chapel

Tuesday 16thMUSIC AT MIDDAY | Singer-songwriter Lucy Charlotte | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:00 - 13:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

PEDAL-POWERED CINEMA UNDER THE STARS | A Small Act | This is a heartwarming tale of how altruism and the doing of charitable things create butterfly wingbeats of good that in turn create more good things. 21:00 - 22:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

COCO AND THE BUTTERFIELDS | Colourful, energetic & crowd-stamping, CoCo and the Butterfields express all the fun and vibrancy of a village folk fair, throwing in powerful vocals and a beatbox to deliver catchy songs resonating in a stadium-filling pop and urban rap vibe. 18:00 - 20:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £10

Coco and the Butterfields: performing Tuesday 16th

THE LIVING LIBRARY (WHERE NO ONE SAYS SHUSH) | Take part in a half-day writing workshop at the magnificent Beaney House of Art and Knowledge to bring the library books to life, led by Peggy Riley, playwright and author of Amity & Sorrow. What stories can you find between the pages? How will you let them speak? What are the stories they keep for themselves? 14:00 - 17:00 | THE COMMUNITY ROOM, THE BEANEY | FREE

THE LIVING LIBRARY | A Performance | During this one off and very special performance, participants of the earlier workshop will open the covers of the books they explored, letting you in and sharing the stories hidden between each page… 19:00 - 20:00 | THE BEANEY | FREE

Thursday 18th

Wednesday 17th

WRITING WITH CONSTRAINTS | A workshop facilitated by writer and journalist Neil Baker | One way to make writing easier is to make it harder. That might sound illogical, but putting obstacles in the way of your writing can be a great way to get the creative juices flowing. 13:30 - 15:30 | THE COMMUNITY ROOM, THE BEANEY | FREE

‘WHAT’S IN THE PUNCH?’ (FACELIFT THEATRE) | Set in a residential home, with only a Nurse to talk to, 352 year old Mr. Punch has been left to reflect on his infamous career. However, the show takes a darker turn when a few old friends arrive on his door-step unannounced. 18:30 - 19:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

PEDAL-POWERED CINEMA UNDER THE STARS | The First Movie | What’s it like to be a child in war – not when the conflict is raging, but when the war tide is out, as it were, when kids are telling stories or playing games? The First Movie places cameras in the hands of the children to give us an entirely different view of Iraq. 20:00 - 21:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | Luke Smith and The Feelings | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:00 - 13:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

A SPACE SAVED FOR A VERY SPECIAL LAST MNUTE ADDITION TO OUR PROGRAMME | To make sure you don’t miss out, keep an eye on our website or see the blackboard at our box office in the Greyfriars Garden for details. 11:00 - 12:00 | DETAILS TO BE CONFIRMED

Friday 19thMORNING COFFEE WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | Join John Siddique, our poet in residence, for his morning coffee and journal writing session | No previous writing experience necessary, just bring a pen and a notebook! 09:30 - 10:30 | WATER LANE COFFEEHOUSE | FREE

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | Singer-songwriter Hattie Whitehead followed by a very special performance from Jamie Catto. Jamie was the founding member and director of Dance music super-group Faithless and has been the Producer/Composer for globally renowned artists such as Dido and Emiliana Torrini. Not to be missed! 13:30 - 15:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

DON’T WEAR IT ON YOUR HEAD, DON’T STICK IT DOWN YOUR TROUSERS | John Siddique | Poems for children 11:00 - 11:45 | THE YURT | FREE

INSANELY GIFTED | A workshop with Jamie Catto | Jamie, founding member of music super-group Faithless, travelled to 50 countries across the world gathering wisdom from people from all walks of life. Drawing on this experience and the wisdom of the people he met, Jamie now runs inspirational workshops. Insanely Gifted focuses on dismantling what Jamie believes is one of the greatest barriers to solving global crises: the energy we waste hiding the raw, dark, chaotic truths about ourselves instead of daring to be authentic and giving others permission to do the same. 15:00 - 18:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £20

HER | A magical candlelit storytelling performance in the ancient chapel with Xanthe Gresham-Knight | Combining the ancient myths of Britain and Ireland with the modern world, this is performance storytelling at its best. “She speaks like a woman spitting jewels” - Arts Council England 19:00 - 20:00 | THE FRANCISCAN CHAPEL | £5

PEDAL-POWERED CINEMA UNDER THE STARS | No Impact Man | Can you save the planet without driving your planet crazy? A film about a family who decided to embrace a carbon-free lifestyle - no rubbish, no electricity, no cars, no TV, and no buying anything new for an entire year. How do they cope with the constant stress and intermittent crises of such a rigorous way of living? Or, perhaps, when life is pared down, do some things become unexpectedly better and even easier? 20:30 - 22:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

A SPACE SAVED FOR A VERY SPECIAL LAST MNUTE ADDITION TO OUR PROGRAMME | To make sure you don’t miss out, keep an eye on our website or see the blackboard at our box office in the Greyfriars Garden for details. 12:00 - 13:00 | DETAILS TO BE CONFIRMED

Saturday 20th

STORIES ON THE RIVER | Emily Hennessey performs myths, legends and folktales. Come and enjoy stories for all ages whilst drifting along in a punt. The punts have a canopy if needed. ALL DAY | THE CANTERBURY PUNTING CO., WATER LANE | FREE

MORNING COFFEE WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | Join John Siddique, our poet in residence, for his morning coffee and journal writing session | No previous writing experience necessary, just bring a pen and a notebook! 09:30 - 10:30 | WATER LANE COFFEEHOUSE | FREE

LIVING AUTHENTICALLY | A workshop with John Siddique | How do we we find that place within ourselves to live authentically? 11:00 - 12:30 | THE YURT | £5

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | Daniel South followed by Steven Slade | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:30 - 14:00 | THE GARDEN TENT| FREE

READING THE WORLD| Ann Morgan shares her experience of reading 196 books in a year 14:00 - 15:00 | THE YURT | £5

SCRATCH CLUB | A poetry for performance skills workshops facilitated by Dan Simpson and Sven Stears. 15:30 - 16:30 | THE YURT | FREE

OPEN MIC | Come and take part or watch our rising stars perform! 16:30 - 17:15 | THE YURT | FREE

FIREBIRD | A Storytelling Performance by Emily Hennessey | For Adults | Emily takes the reins on a riotous adventure bursting with magic and marvel, wit and wonder, bringing to life some of the most gripping traditional tales from beyond the darkest edges of Eastern Europe. 17:30 - 18:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

LANTERN PARADE | Collect your lanterns and watch the children’s faces light up wiith wonder as we wind our way around the beautiful ‘secret’ Greyfriars Gardens led by beautiful music. 19:10 - 19:25 | THE GREYFRIARS GARDEN | FREE

SHAHNAMEH AND KALEVALA | A storytelling performance for adults, with Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Nick Hennessey | The Shahnameh has been described as an ‘encyclopaedia of Iranian culture’. The Kalevala delivers us from Canterbury into the deep, snow filled forests of the Finnish far North. Expect a remarkable performance of elemental epic. 19:30 - 21:30 | THE GREYFRIARS GARDEN | FREE

ONCE UPON A TIME, A WONDROUS WORLD OF RHYME | Performances and workshops for the young & young at heart! ALL DAY | THE MEADOW | PERFORMANCES: FREE | WORKSHOPS: £4

Sunday 21stSTORIES ON THE RIVER | Emily Hennessey performs myths, legends, folktales and fairytales. Come and enjoy stories for all ages whilst drifting along in a punt. The punts have a canopy to shelter you from rain if needed. ALL DAY | THE CANTERBURY PUNTING CO., WATER LANE | FREE

ONCE UPON A TIME, A WONDROUS WORLD OF RHYME| Performances and workshops for the young & young at heart! ALL DAY | THE MEADOW | PRICES VARY

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING TALK: IS POETRY RELEVANT TODAY?| With Joelle Taylor, Michael James Parker and Dan Simpson. 11:00 - 12:30 | THE YURT | £5

MUSIC AT MIDDAY | George Oglivie | Bring your sandwich and enjoy beautiful music in the magical surroundings of the Greyfriars Franciscan Gardens. 12:30 - 13:15 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

THE POETRY EXCHANGE | The Live Catalogue | Join us to explore the voicing of poems and to celebrate the connections we make through them. Bring along a poem (2 copies if possible) you have connected to as a reader and that has acted as a friend to you – be ready to share it with others and meet some new poem-friends along the way. 13:30 - 15:00 | THE YURT | £5

PEDAL-POWERED SPOKE ‘N’ WORD GRAND SLAM FINAL | Words will fly as young people from across Kent & Medway come together to perform alongside some of the UK’s most exciting emerging spoken word artists, eager to be crowned King or Queen of our pedal-powered Grand Slam Final. 15:00 - 16:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | FREE

TOP QUALITY SPOKEN WORD | Joelle Taylor is a spoken word poet, stand up novelist, award-winning playwright and cultural terrorist who has performed at Buckingham Palace, Glastonbury and the Royal Festival hall. Michael Parker is a poet, teacher, husband, father, son, mountainman and mentor who finds inspiration in the big wide world. Dan Simpson is a spoken word poet, compère, writer and Canterbury Laureate. 17:00 - 18:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

MARK GRIST | Millions watched an ex-English teacher take on a teenage grime artist in a rap battle that became a YouTube sensation. Ever since Mark has proved to be one of the country’s most entertaining and thought provoking artists. 18:30 - 19:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £8

MORNING COFFEE WITH JOHN SIDDIQUE | Join John Siddique, our poet in residence, for his morning coffee and journal writing session | No previous writing experience necessary, just bring a pen and a notebook! 09:30 - 10:30 | WATER LANE COFFEEHOUSE | FREE

KATE TEMPEST | Treats us to an early performance of her latest collection Hold Your Own | Original, electrifying and mesmerising, Kate Tempest is the UK’s finest spoken word rapper. Kate recently won the prestigious Ted Hughes Award – the first recipient under 40 to have ever done so. Don’t miss this very exciting opportunity to be one of the very first to hear her new work! 20:00 - 21:00 | THE GARDEN TENT | £8

MARK GRIST & TOM WORTH | Mark Grist & Tom Worth discuss the battle rap scene in the UK and share clips from Tom’s forthcoming film featuring Mark. 21:30 - 22:30 | THE GARDEN TENT | £5

Our young Spoke ‘N’ Word poets performing at Lounge on the Farm: catch them on Sunday 21st for the Grand Slam Final.

Kate Tempest: performing Sunday 21st

WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO:

• All the artists who have come together to make this the best programme yet

• Our Friends, Lovers and Partners

• All those who generously supported our Kickstarter Campaign

• Our volunteer ‘Makers’ who transformed the space

• Our Advisory Board for all their support and advice

NOT TO MENTION...

Our talented interns who have worked tirelessly and with such commitment, passion and energy to make this festival so special. Holly, Meike, Emma, Jack and Jemma your support has meant the world to us!

OUR VOLUNTEERS

Carly, Reece, Tasha and Jamie you have brought our Wondrous World of Rhyme to life. Also to Katie and Amy for your help behind the scenes.

OUR FUNDERS, PARTNER AND SUPPORTERS:

AND A PERSONAL MENTION TO:

• Lucy who has become an incredible Assistant Producer and a dear friend.

• Dan Harding for being our Social Media Whizz and a great Mentor.

• Mum, Dad, Ben and Jude for always being by my side!

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