Glastonbury Festival - Poetry and Speakers

About Some of the Poets

Poetry & Words biographies

Adrian Mitchell

Adrian Mitchell is the Shadow Poet Laureate. He was appointed and anointed by Red Pepper Magazine in 2003. It is his only title and he says anyone else is welcome to share it with him. This is his very first visit to the Glastonbury Festival and Poetry & Words couldn’t be more pleased to have him. 60’s author of the most famous Vietnam anti-war poem (Tell Me Lies About Vietnam), Adrian has a long history of radicalism and his roots in poetry and theatre he has created an amazing spectrum of work during an extremely colourful literary life, from gigging with Ginsberg to writing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre. To quote the late poet laureate and indisputable poetry heavyweight Ted Hughes, Adrian has “…real inner freedom and the courage of his own music. Among all the voices of the Court, a voice as welcome as Lear's fool… humour that can stick deep and stay funny.”

Dennis Gould
Long, long ago, when the Glastonbury Festival first appeared out of the mists of Avalon and Tyrannosaurus Rex had only just become extinct, a poet wandered amongst the people gathered there about. He recited his poems to the people and the powers that be saw he was good – he was very good. He was so good that they put a tent up around him and they called it Poetry&Words.; And there it stands till this very day. We are very pleased to have him back now and look forward to his tales of you and yore.

Pat VT West
And there wandering with Dennis Gould was fellow Riff-Raff poet, the doyenne of the poetry tent, our very own Pat VT West, Glastonbury’s Poetry&Words; organiser and mistress of all she surveys, who will be delighting us with her divine measure of metre. She is a one-off, a Glasto original-original, whose work ranges from that of aracno-feminist to sensual-hippy-radical-chic with an enviro-agitprop-mental edge.

Dreadlock Alien
He will thrill with his killer reggae/hiphop slam style. He is a performance poet, slam champion, live literature lover, dub flow verse practitioner and hip hop griot.

Rob Gee
Combining machine gun delivery with razor sharp humour, Rob has won numerous slams around the country.

Rachel Pantechnicon
The love child of Eddie Izzard and Pam Ayres, she is famous for her storage of elfin paraphernalia, her groundgrating writing for children and her pioneering of the cat treddling school of poetry. She was formally a model for Mills and Boon book covers.

Pete Hunter
From his sonnet for eyebrows to his performance of taxi-driveresque poetic monologues he is warm, witty and worldly and a multiple slam winner.

Bonnie Brooks
Fierce and passionate, in-your-face poetry from one of the UK’s young up-and-coming performers.

Nathan Filer
How does he know all those words off by heart? He is an engaging and entertaining performer who makes it look so easy.

Helen Gregory
Lives in a quiet corner of Bristol but harbours a secret desire to rule the world.

Brendon The Pop Poet
Brendon was born again in Bath after a visitation from Andy Warhol and some space monkeys who instructed him in the mystic art of ‘pop’.

Jim Thomas
Jim is an Eco-activist poet who mixes global themes of political and technological power with playful romantic lyricism.

Steve (The Huge Brown Lizard)
Steve’s flickering forked tongue delivers socio-political commentary about a disappointed life, social decay and mass culture.

Claire Faussett
Hammer and Tongue’s Radical Super-girlie.

Sophia Blackwell
Accessible but sophisticated lyricism on relationships and lesbian identity.

Joel Stickley
Joel is the Glastonbury Festival’s reigning slam champion. He is part of Aisle16, the five-star rated stand-up poetry show.

Ian Horn
Troubadour of the ‘beautiful game’ and founder of Verses United, Ian Horn has performed on the terraces. Ingerland expects.

Poetry & Words Running Order 2004

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