Poetic Sounds for a Summer Evening at St Margaret's Church, Warnham

The featured poets creating poetic sounds are:

Sasha Dugdale – Sasha’s sixth book of poetry, The Strongbox, published in 2024, won the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Prize. Deformations (2020) was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot and Derek Walcott Prizes. She won a Forward Prize for her long poem Joy, a monologue in the voice of Catherine, William Blake’s widow.

John McCullough – John’s book of poems, Reckless Paper Birds, published with Penned in the Margins, won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. His most recent collection, Panic Response, was a Book of the Year in The Telegraph and one of The Times’ Notable New Poetry Books of 2022.

Barry Smith – Barry’s poetry collection Performance Rites has been described as ‘a masterpiece’ by both Acumen and Sentinel literary journals, and his poems have been recognised in national awards/competitions. His latest collection is Reeling and Writhing

Barry will be joined by classical guitarist and director of West Sussex Guitar Orchestra, Linda Kelsall Barnett, in a performance of an inspirational mix of words and music.

The evening will also include the presentation of prizes to the winners of the SMP poetry competition 2025 awarded by Worthing’s own bard, Joe Bunn.

Shelley Memorial Project Chair, David Hide, said of the event, ‘This is our fourth annual celebration of poetry, and we are delighted to be returning to Warnham, with it’s strong connection to the great Romantic poet. We can’t think of a better way of enjoying a summer’s evening than being surrounded by poetic sounds, a perfect event for enthusiasts of poetry and music.’

Tickets, priced £16.00, Unwaged £12.00, Students £5.00, can be purchased via the following link to the WeGotTickets events booking site. https://wegottickets.com/event/666643# or by contacting the Shelley Memorial Project by email: [email protected]