Skip to main content

Portsmouth Festivities opened with a fanfare


Portsmouth Festivities opened with a great fanfare, literally, courtesy of John Sampson. He was part of a duet with poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Carol said The Queen gave him to her, which was greeted with laughter and that very much set the tone for the next hour.

First, Portsmouth Poet Laureate, Sam Cox, read her newly penned poem Pages of Possibilities. I love her sing song delivery and phrasing.  In this poem I love the line 'tapestry of people colliding' and I thought this is the poem that would inspire people to want to write their own.

Carol Ann Duffy read from her book The World's Wife, which was published in 1999. This was a collection inspired by stories she heard in her childhood. She gave a voice to the women involved in the stories.

The first she read was from Midas' wife, who recoiled from his great gift, afraid to be immortalised into a gold statue and finally assigning him to a motor home.

I was delighted by the twist in the ending of her poem about Faust. She put mythical stories into modern day setting and imagined what the various wives would say to their husbands' folly, with humorous outcomes.

Carol Ann Duffy has a dry sense of humour. She hardly smiled, but she added a few comical entries, while John Sampson played various wind instruments, as intervals to her reading.

Carol Ann Duffy also tackled various current topics in her reading. She read her poem about the Christmas Truce and also gave a nod to the World Cup, apparently her favourite topic of conversation.

Tickets to the event sold out almost as soon as the box office opened and I was privileged to be among the audience to witness her talent and to take part in some enjoyable audience participation.


Review: Carol Ann Duffy, Friday 20 June 2014, 2pm at the Portsmouth Grammar School

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Delicious thinly sliced pork in Korean marinade

Sometimes you found a recipe and wrote it down on a piece of paper to try it out. Having done that, you forget where the recipe came from. Likewise this Korean recipe for pork, which turned out to be so delicious we have cooked it for everyone. The marinade is simple to make and yet really packed with flavours. For the Korean marinade you need  3 garlic cloves 1/2 brown onion 1/2 a pear or apple Blitz these ingredients together and then add 5 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Kikkoman) 3 tablespoons caster sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil 3 tablespoons mirin black pepper For dinner for 2 people, 200g pork tenderloin is enough. Slice this thinly, and bash it to an even thinner piece with a meat mallet. Marinade in the sauce and leave it in the fridge for an hour. Then heat a frying pan on medium heat with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and fry the thin pork pieces until browned. You want some of the edges of the meat to be dark brown and caramelised, if you can. Don't cook too many pieces or

Explore the rich musical tradition of the Royal Navy at a special two-day event at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Whether you love sea shanties full of salty metaphors and swashbuckling action, or the stirring sound of a military band with brass and drums, there will be music across Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in a new event on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th June 2023, which is completely free with a valid ticket to the given attractions. The rich history of music in the Royal Navy is being explored at a brand new two-day event, featuring a wide range of musical performances and styles, from The Royal Marines School of Music to Tudor Opera singing with Jay Britton. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard comes alive with music, beginning on Friday 23rd June, with a special Solent Shanty singing event in collaboration with the Portsmouth Music Hub. This special collaboration has allowed the museum to host a special performance of sea shanties by over 700 children in the shadow of the legendary HMS Victory. This new event continues on Saturday 24th June, featuring performances across Portsmouth Historic Docky

‘Southsea dinosaur’ returns

Luna Park 2021, an eagerly anticipated new public artwork for Portsmouth designed by internationally renowned artists Ivan Morison and Heather Peak of Studio Morison will be launched on 2 October 2021 on a celebratory day in Southsea Common.  The 1.4 metres bronze sculpture is a tribute to the original 53-foot high 2010 artwork Luna Park, which tragically burned down on Southsea Common. The artists will unveil a new sculpture that responds to ten years of public demand to ‘bring back the Southsea Dinosaur’.  The new public artwork will be located within a direct sightline to the position of the original Luna Park sculpture. It will sit on top of a fossil Portland stone plinth with a QR code which when scanned with a smartphone will connect to an Augmented Reality experience. People will be transported to a digital rendering of the original artwork, seemingly standing life-size in front of them on Southsea Common. Viewers will also be able to use their mobile devices to visit a digital