Contains Strong Language is the BBC’s poetry festival, and in September 2020 it was held in Cumbria.
Ahead of the festival, four poets were commissioned (in collaboration with Kirkby Lonsdale Poetry Festival & BBC Radio Cumbria) to write poems in response to Kirkby Lonsdale beauty spot, ‘Ruskin’s View’, which Ruskin once described as ‘one of the loveliest views in England, therefore in the world’.
The other poets were:
- Hannah Hodgson
- Karen Lloyd
- Matt Soweby
The four poems then featured as part of Contains Strong Language, including at a panel discussion hosted by Helen Mort, talking about the inspiration behind writing them. They were also played aloud through a mythophone at Ruskin’s View itself, during the weekend of the festival.
Listen to the mythophone recording here:
During the festival, I also appeared as part of Passing Words: a poetry reading at Tullie House in Carlisle, hosted by Ian McMillan, and performing alongside Lemn Sissay, Kim Moore, Matt Sowerby, Malika Booker, Kate Clanchy, Hannah Hodgson and Hussain Manawer.
Katie Hale 