A Sense of Wonder to celebrate National Poetry Day 2026

Chichester’s Open Mic Poetry will be offering A Sense of Wonder to celebrate National Poetry Day 2026.

South Downs Poetry Festival organiser Barry Smith said: “The special guest poet in the spotlight to celebrate National Poetry Day this year is worldwide traveller Alwyn Marriage with a reading from Travelling Light, her award-winning collection of poetry.

“On Thursday, October 1 at 7.30pm, Alwyn will lead the poetry celebration at the Jubilee Hall, New Park Centre, Chichester. Local writers get the chance to read their own poems after the interval when refreshments of wine, soft drinks or coffee will be served. Acoustic guitar music from Linda Kelsall-Barnett will intersperse the readings.”

Barry added: “Alwyn Marriage's eighteen books include poetry, fiction and non-fiction. She gives frequent readings and lectures all over Britain and Europe and occasionally in Australia and New Zealand. She won the Hedgehog Poetry Prize for her collection Travelling Light which recounts some of her adventures travelling around the world on work.

“Her most recent commission was to write poems responding to 25 modern artworks in an exhibition this spring, which resulted in a very popular book of poetry illustrated by reproductions of the art (From Darkness to Light: Poems from an Exhibition). She particularly enjoys giving poetry readings from her many collections.

“She was formerly a philosophy lecturer, magazine editor, environmental consultant, CEO of two international NGOs and managing editor of Oversteps Books. In this last role she was able to encourage and help many poets, and she published 100 collections by both well-established and new poets.”

Alwyn said: “No one was more surprised than I was when I was headhunted to be CEO of two international NGOs. The work was very different from anything I had done before, but it turned out to be mainly enjoyable and I learned a great deal.

“For the next decade I travelled extensively all over the world – or rather to the poorer parts of the world – encouraging and enabling literacy and publishing. The poems in Travelling Light recount some of the interesting people I met, places I visited and journeys undertaken by night ferry, motor canoe, rickshaw and on foot, the long distance train from Moscow to Beijing, interminably long flights across the globe and tiny plane hops around Africa.

“The experiences covered in the poems include the thrill of seeing young women in Bangladesh learning to read, encouraging sound business practices in Africa, being entertained by a young boy dancer in India and receiving warm and generous hospitality in some of the worst slums in the world.”

After Alwyn’s reading, local writers will have the chance to read their own poems. The National Poetry Day theme for 2026 is Wonder, but poems in any style or on any subject are welcome.

“Live music from Linda Kelsall-Barnett on classical guitar and Open Mic Poetry combine to offer a stimulating mix of words and music. Readers and listeners are equally welcome.” Celebrating National Poetry Day, Thursday, October 1, 7.30pm, Jubilee Hall, New Park Centre, Chichester. Entrance £5 on the door. Sign up to read.