Name: Just off the A5, West of Llangollen, poem by Jonathan Davidson, read by Julia Deakin by Jonathan Davidson
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: Jonathan Davidson's poem, Just off the A5, West of Llangollen, read by Julia Deakin, Summer 2021

Battling the monotony while the season shifts, you take yourself down to the towpath to reflect on where you’ve been, and what’s up ahead.  

Credits: 
There’s light at the end of it was created by composer Bobbie-Jane Gardner and writer Rochi Rampal, and was commissioned by Black Country Touring for ‘Springs Calling’ March 2021.

Black Country Touring - Theres Light At The End Of It

Jonathan Davidson's poem, Just off the A5, West of Llangollen, read by Julia Deakin, Summer 2021

A Commonplace

Just off the A5, West of Llangollen, poem by Jonathan Davidson, read by Julia Deakin

Rain on the roof

W S Graham introduces and reads the poem 'Johann Joachim Quantz's Five Lessons' (from his 1977 collection 'Implements In Their Places'). Recorded and broadcast circa 1978. 

W S Graham: Johann Joachim Quantz's Five Lessons

The Year We Married Birds

Taken fro Black Country

‘When I became a bird, Lord, nothing could not stop me…’ 

Ablaze with energy and full of the rich dialect of the West Midlands, Black Country is the incandescent debut from a poet of dazzling talent and verve.

WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2014


The Year We Married Birds

From "Analogue Tales: Sounds from Arden", the new album by James Summerfield, released on Commercially Inviable Records, 22nd June 2015. Available on vinyl, CD and download.

James Summerfield - Beryl Doesn't Give A Toss (feat. Catherine O'Flynn)

In this episode of our podcast, you will hear Harry talking about the poem that has been a friend to him: ’Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)' by Frank O'Hara.

Harry visited The Poetry Exchange at John Rylands Library in May 2016. We’re very grateful to John Rylands Library for hosting The Poetry Exchange. Thank you also to City Lights Publishers for kindly granting permission for us to use this poem. Do visit them both for further inspiration:

www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/
www.citylights.com

Harry is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members, Jacqueline Kington and Michael Schaeffer.

’Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)' is read by Michael Schaeffer and Jacqueline Kington.

*****

Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)
by Frank O'Hara

Lana Turner has collapsed! 
I was trotting along and suddenly
it started raining and snowing
and you said it was hailing
but hailing hits you on the head
hard so it was really snowing and
raining and I was in such a hurry
to meet you but the traffic
was acting exactly like the sky
and suddenly I see a headline 
LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!
there is no snow in Hollywood
there is no rain in California
I have been to lots of parties
and acted perfectly disgraceful
but I never actually collapsed
oh Lana Turner we love you get up

’Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)' by Frank O'Hara from 'Lunch Poems: Pocket Poets Number 19'. (City Lights Publishers 2014).

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13. Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)by Frank O'Hara - A Friend to Harry

The Fetch - Gregory Leadbetter

A reading of Walter de la Mare’s poem ‘The Listeners’

The Listeners - Walter De La Mare

This poem came third in the Ledbury Poetry Competition 2010. It is available in my pamphlet 'Gopagilla' published by Crystal Clear Creators, 2012. 

Hawk's Eye

Then or Now - the episode featuring the poetry of Adrienne Rich and our collaboration with Ballet Black is no longer available, since we hope to be able to announce details soon of the full dance production! More news soon!

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We are delighted to share a special edition of The Poetry Exchange podcast featuring the score from Ballet Black’s new piece, Then or Now, choreographed by William Tuckett, which would have had its world premiere at The Barbican, London, on March 26th. 

The score features poems by Adrienne Rich and the music of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704), played by solo violinist Daniel Pioro. Poetry Direction is by The Poetry Exchange’s Founder and Director, Fiona Bennett and poems are voiced by Natasha Gordon, Michael Shaeffer and Hafsah Annela Bashir. 

It is with great thanks to the Adrienne Rich Estate and all the artists involved that we are able to share this unique collaboration between Ballet Black and The Poetry Exchange with you as a prelude to the full experience, once the ballet can be performed. 

Adrienne Rich is one of the greatest modern poets of our time. She was a tireless activist and ambassador for human rights and social justice. She was an active force in the Civil Rights Movement, a leading voice in the Feminist Movement and spoke out against all forms of oppression and injustice. Her exemplary approach to political activism, her scholarly and artistic integrity make her a highly relevant and vital source of inspiration for our time. She died in 2012 and her legacy is a defining force in the ongoing development of poetry. 

You can find out more about the life and work of Adrienne Rich through the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust here: www.adriennerich.net 

We are grateful to The Adrienne Rich Literary Trust and W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. for granting us permission to feature poems from Dark Fields of the Republic.  Dark Fields of the Republic is published by W.W. Norton and available here: www.wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393313987-dark-fields-of-the-republic. 

Many thanks to the wonderful Ballet Black and The Barbican. Find out more about their work below, and to stay updated with rescheduled ‘Then or Now’ performance dates:

www.balletblack.co.uk
www.barbican.org.uk  

The extraordinary work of violinist, Daniel Pioro can also be found here: www.danielpioro.com/ 

Below is ‘What Kind of Times Are These’ by Adrienne Rich - the opening poem from 'Dark Fields' of the Republic, and this episode.

Photo credit: Camilla Greenwell and Ballet Black

*****

What Kind of Times Are These
By Adrienne Rich

There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.

I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled
this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.

I won't tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
meeting the unmarked strip of light—
ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise:
I already know who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.

And I won't tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it's necessary
to talk about trees.

46. 'Then or Now' - Adrienne Rich - a poem-score for Ballet Black

I am a poet and audio dramatist (and at other times a literature development person). I was born in 1964 and grew up in Didcot, South Oxfordshire, and now live in Coventry. I won an Eric Gregory award in 1990, and am the author of various pamphlets and collections of poetry, including Moving the Stereo (Jackson’s Arm, 1993), The Living Room (Arc, 1994), A Horse Called House (Smith/Doorstop, 1997) and Early Train (Smith/Doorstop, 2011). I have had seven radio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, along with radio adaptations of Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns and W.S. Graham's The Nightfishing. My stage adaptation of Mary Webb's novel, Precious Bane, toured with Interplay Theatre in 2009/10. In April 2015, Valley Press published my latest pamphlet, Humfrey Coningsby, a collection of 'poems, complaints, explanations and demands for satisfaction' by Jonathan, loosely based on the travels of a lord of the manor from Shropshire, in the late 16th century. Humfrey Coningsby’s story was also the subject of a BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Drama by Jonathan, to be broadcast in June 2015.

Just off the A5, West of Llangollen, poem by Jonathan Davidson, read by Julia Deakin

Jonathan Davidson

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