It’s pouring rain here today, which is making it psychologically easier to prepare for my trip off-Island. Tomorrow I head off for a quick trip back to England to attend the Polyverse Poetry Festival being held at the University Of Loughborough. I first blogged about it here. This will be a weekend of interesting and unusual workshops, readings and performances, one of which will be my poetry play, “Dreams of May.” It hasn’t been performed on a stage in a “proper” theatre for a couple of years (although it has been performed in classrooms and cafes), and I’m really excited to see it once again in its full glory. Excited and nervous, to be honest. I have no idea how many people will be in the audience, but it will be an audience full of poets and poetry lovers. Leaving myself open to that sort of scrutiny is a bit daunting, to be honest. And of course the fact that Carol Ann Duffy will be there reading just a couple of hours later makes it all the more nerve-wracking. Will she actually come see it? Who knows? But I’ll certainly be going to see her, which is also very exciting. For a full list of who will be appearing, what workshops will be held, plus all the festival details see this link.

I very rarely go to literary festivals. It’s not a policy decision, it’s more a matter of scheduling. So I don’t have a very good idea of what to expect and I’m looking at it as a bit of a magical mystery tour. The two-hour train ride up from London will be fun, though. I do love train rides.
I’ll report back next week. And if any of you are in the area, please do come by to say hi and lend your support.