THE Poetry in McGregor Festival, an annual highlight on the festival calendar in the Western Cape, is now in its ninth year. Set in the beautiful village of McGregor, this unique event brings together poets and poetry lovers from all over the country for a feast of the written word. This year’s festival will be featuring just over 80 poets performing in group events.
Lara Kirsten, Malika Ndlovu, Danie Marais, Churchil Naudé, Susan Woodward, Diana Ferrus, Christine Coates, Justin Fox, Patricia Schonstein, Dimakatso Sedite, Lynthia Julius, Nondwe Mpuma, Jacques Coetzee and John Maytham, among other exciting well-known as well as new, young poets, will be presenting their poetry at a handful of charming venues over the course of the weekend.
Poetry in McGregor festival coordinator, Jane de Sousa, says it is a new format to group poets together. “Fewer venues are easier to manage in terms of the strict Covid regulations we will adhere to. We still wanted to invite as many poets as possible to participate and were thrilled they were enthusiastic about sharing the stage. The programme offers an exciting mingling of hearts and minds. In the past, the sharing of poetry at this popular annual gathering has already created a wonderful sense of togetherness. Now, in this new format, it will feel both comfortable and supportive.”
Ashley Dowds, MC and participating poet at this year’s festival has been part of this special annual event for many years. He says it is well worth it for anyone to attend this incredible weekend: “By journeying to a place where poetry is held up to the light for a few days; the act of doing that has the intention of engaging with life, distilled into reflective shards that you take home with you, waiting to discover how they fit together. They may not immediately. But they create an arc across so many deep levels of imagination and truth, that the journey becomes a pilgrimage.”
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PHOTO CREDIT: Dani’s Photos