Voice and Verse – Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey will launch a new season, Voice and Verse on National Poetry Day next month celebrating poets and poetry with a series of special events.

Voice and Verse launches on National Poetry Day

Voice and Verse, launches on Thursday 3rd October, National Poetry Day and includes special talks, tours, family events, and musical performances.

Highlights include poetry readings in the iconic Poets’ Corner, an online talk Across the Pond with the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster Abbey and Canon Hawkey in conversation with speakers from St John the Divine Cathedral in New York as they reflect on the significance and impact of a Poets’ Corner within a place of worship.

There are talks on the lives of Women Poets, First World War poets, musical recitals based on texts by poets, a poetry workshop that takes inspiration from the emotions stirred by Westminster Abbey’s memorials and monuments and a bookbinding workshop too.

Among other events will be Voice and Verse tours on selected Saturdays, pop up talks in Poets’ Corner, and activities for families.

Throughout the season there will be sermons and music reflecting the lives and works of poets remembered in the Abbey during Sunday services.

The season will draw to a close at the end of November.

Full listings and information can be found on the Westminster Abbey site here.

“Voice and Verse
Poets’ Corner is a literary pilgrimage like no other. Join us this season as we celebrate the power of words and stories penned by historic and emerging poets. Discover new ways of seeing the world through their captivating verses.”