A huge thank you to everyone who supported our International Poetry Symposium at Northern Stage last week, co-curated by the PBS with Newcastle University, at Newcastle Poetry Festival. It was such a celebration of poetry from all around the world with 20 world-class poets gathering from the US, Canada, Bhutan, Switzerland and beyond. We were delighted to see so many PBS Members join us in Newcastle and on the live-stream. Throughout the symposium we discussed the festival theme of "In/Out Place". The Swiss poet Rolf Hermann highlighted that place is bodily: "our bodies store memories in places we're not even aware of", CAConrad urged us to "learn how to live so that wilderness never becomes mythology" and Kayo Chingonyi taught us that "place poetry" is inherently political, “A poem in a difficult time / deviate with all your might”. British-Ukrainian poet Charlotte Shevchenko Knight asked, "When is a place a place, and when is it just a memory?" and the Palestinian poet Yousif M. Qasmiyeh questioned, "How do I locate my memories amongst this carnage?". Thanks to all our speakers for such moving, necessary and inspiring sessions on the power of poetry.
Watch the highlights reel here or visit our social media for lots of photos