StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival is just days away from welcoming the world to Scotland for another outstanding festival, celebrating poetry in all its forms.
The annual event which opens on Wednesday will run from 4-8 March, bringing dozens of local, national and international poets to St Andrews for this year’s festival.
StAnza 2020 will be launched by special guest, Scottish crime writer Val McDermid. The festival opens with a show stopping first night extravaganza showcasing a selection of headline poets, including Jen Hadfield, Anthony Anaxagorou and Anna Crowe who will be reading and performing, intertwined with film and art, as well as music from Alannah Moar.
This year’s programme features an exceptional line-up of talent including Irish poet Michael Longley, a recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, and previous winner of Whitbread Prize for Poetry, the Hawthornden Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize, and American poet, editor and human rights advocate Carolyn Forché, recent winner of the 2019 Juan E. Méndez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America.
They are joined by British writer, artist, film programmer and activist, Jay Bernard, Scottish poet and artist Alec Finlay and BBC Edinburgh Fringe Slam Champion 2019, Birdspeed.
Other poets performing at StAnza include Wendy Cope, Cecilie Lǿveid, D. A. Powell, Mimi Khalvati, Johan Sandberg McGuinne, Gerry Cambridge, Daisy Lafarge and many more.
Festival director Eleanor Livingstone said: ‘StAnza is once again bringing a world class line-up of literary talent to Fife, including some of the biggest names in poetry alongside new and exciting voices from all over the world.
‘StAnza is proud to be part of Scotland’s diverse and vibrant cultural offering and we’re delighted to be welcoming performers and audiences to St Andrews to enjoy our 2020 festival.’
Over five days Fife’s historic university town of St Andrews will come alive to celebrate live poetry in all its forms around this year’s two themes Coast Lines and Due North which fit with Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 which StAnza is proud to be part of.
Jay Bernard (Photo: Joshua Virasami)
Another highlight is a Nordic language focus with poets from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden speaking Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Sámi. They will take part in a range of readings, performances and other events. StAnza will also host New Dutch Writing presented by the Dutch Foundation for Literature featuring Flemish poet Charlotte Van den Broeck and Dutch poet Jan Baeke.
Caroline Warburton, regional leadership director at VisitScotland, said: ‘Scotland offers the perfect stage to enjoy the written and spoken word and we are delighted to be supporting StAnza 2020. This year’s programme will bring together poets and audiences from around the world, celebrating Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 in the beautiful setting of St Andrews.’
Viccy Adams, literature officer, Creative Scotland said: ‘StAnza has a well-deserved reputation for bringing the world’s most exciting poetic voices to Fife’s doorstep, and the line-up for the 2020 Festival is no exception. From Jen Hadfield to Mimi Khalvati to Carolyn Forché, the programme is packed with poets who write with courage, talent and passion. I’m personally particularly excited to hear Jay Bernard, and to discover new voices in translation. As always, there is something for everyone, from avid poetry fans to those dipping their toes for the first time.’
StAnza is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020. The festival will bring over 100 events including poetry, music, film and art, many of which are free, to St Andrews for five days from 4-8 March.
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