Words and Voices - September
Where does poetry take you? How can a poem unlock the past, present and future? How are stories told through poetry?
How do the many languages Coventrians have spoken in the past - and speak today - shape us?
What are the Coventrian life stories we need to know about?
September in the Resonate Festival is all about Words and Voices.
Through events on 5 September and 19 September, we’ll be exploring the power of words - spoken, written and sung. We’ll be taking up residency in the Assembly Festival Gardens (AFG) in Coventry, with events curated by the Connecting Cultures GRP.
As part of the workshops, you can hear George Eliot’s poems about the Coventry canal, and explore connections between ecology and poetry
September 5, 4-7pm:
Words and Voices: Poetry in the City Workshops
On September 5, our events are all about poetry: we’ll create spaces and opportunities for you to read and listen to poetry, and even try your hand at writing it. The free-of-charge Words and Voices: Poetry in the City workshops in the AFG Treehouse (4-7pm) will explore the poetry of Coventry, uniting local poets with staff and students from the University in a relaxed session, high above the Festival Gardens.
Hear George Eliot’s poems about the Coventry canal, listen to Cathy Galvin’s ode to the Coventry ring road, explore connections between ecology and poetry, with a special focus on the city’s trees and discover new poetry written for the event.
Who can attend the workshops?
The workshops are ideal for poets (and the poetry-curious) of all ages, and people are welcome to come and go as they please throughout the session. It's ideal for students, including those studying/writing poetry, as well as people interested in the city's history and its environments, plus anyone who loves reading and listening to poetry too!
The Piccolo Stage will play host to Slam in the City.
September 5, 8pm:
Slam in the City
The evening of September 5 will see the brand new free-of-charge Slam in the City event at the Assembly Festival Garden's Piccolo Stage. Staff and student poets from the University of Warwick will present their own work, and we’ll get a sneak preview of some of the poets from the BBC’s Contains Strong Language poetry festival (which takes place later in September). Alongside poetry performance, we’ll hear about poetry research at the University of Warwick, which asks questions such as ‘Can poetry empower and bring communities together?’ and ‘How does poetry come to the fore at important moments in history?’
This evening of words and voices set in a Victorian sideshow-style theatre is not to be missed!
Pocket Poetry
Everyone attending Slam in the City will receive a limited edition ‘Poetry Pocket’ from Theatre Absolute, full of goodies to encourage everyone to give poetry writing a go. You can then submit poems you create through your Poetry Pocket to a Words and Voices poetry writing competition, to be awarded later in the autumn.
Try your hand at a multitude of activities in our Treehouse.
September 19, 11am:
Words and Voices Roadshow: The Life Stories and Languages That Make Us Who We Are
On September 19, our Words and Voices events will focus on the life stories and languages that make us who we are.
Children and families can drop into the Treehouse at the Assembly Festival Gardens from 11am to try various multi-lingual and multi-cultural interactive activities.
Find out when Latin was spoken here and how many languages we now speak in the city. Design a t-shirt with a slogan of your choice.
Find the global roots of words we use every day. Try your hand at translating animal noises in different languages, and join us as we use Disney songs to show how Google Translate doesn’t always have the answer! Plus, create your own language poem and contribute your views on what speaking different languages brings to your life.
From learning Chinese to the evolution of the Coventry accents
In the Piccolo Theatre, join us for a series of interactive talks from 12pm to 3pm. We'll be covering topics such as the global cities (and languages) twinned with Coventry, how the Coventry accent has changed through the years, how to learn Chinese from scratch, the plethora of languages spoken in Coventry.
From weaving to gardening, to Coventry's mining past
For teenagers and adults, join us in the Treehouse from midday for a series of interactive booths, workshops and performances, that speak to the different stories we tell in and about Coventry.
Learn more about Binley Colliery, chat with the artists capturing the mechanical inventions imagined by Coventry’s school children
Try your hand at combined story-telling and weaving, as well as story-telling and origami
Pot seeds while hearing more about the Roma allotment project
Find out more from the Queer and Coloured and Colonial Hangover research projects about different life stories of our city
Watch performances from story-tellers of the future, hear live readings of personal stories related to racism and join in the fun of a live performance of poetic song and giddha dance
Plus, you can catch up with a series of short films related to these and other life-story projects in the Piccolo Theatre from 3pm-4.30pm on the day!
