Poetry Walk !

Bridlington Poetry Festival 2011

The Brief

One of Rusticus’s very first commissions was from John Wedgwood-Clarke at the Bridlington Poetry Festival. Held yearly at Sewerby Hall & Gardens, the festival had a loyal but niche audience and John was keen to attract a wider audience over the festival weekend – including families. Having programmed Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy for readings, John was keen to expose more families to her work – could we help?

What We Did

We created a poetry-themed Wacky Walk which took audiences on a journey around the outside spaces of Sewerby Hall and which celebrated a variety of  different ‘correct’ ways to create poetry. Audiences took part in very silly activities around the ideas of rhythm and meter, experimentation and for juxtaposition through poetry golf and the smashing of a lot of apples! The adventure culminated in the creating of our own poetry which we offered to the sea on the Sewerby cliff tops attached to our giant withy bottle.

The Result

The success of the event led to further outreach work for the festival, delivering the adventure to invited school parties over the following weeks. It also led to an enduring relationship with the management team at Sewerby Hall – who had looked out of the windows and wondered “what that crazy lady was doing!!”