StAnza promises a festival to remember as its 20th anniversary programme is announced.
Scotland’s international poetry festival director Eleanor Livingstone said: “We’re very excited to be planning our 20th festival and have strived to create an ambitious and vibrant programme fitting of this terrific milestone.
“As we move into our third decade we have much to celebrate including the launch of a special project which will be revealed next year.
“Like previous years, StAnza 2017 will showcase an eclectic mix of some of the biggest names in the literary world alongside some of the newest and brightest talent.”
The festival takes place in St Andrews from March 1 to 5 and traditionally opens with a show-stopping first night performance — next year the audience is invited to join poet John Agard on a quirky re-visioning of the notorious New World Enterprise of Christopher Columbus.
The opening night show launches the five day festival with a line up which includes acclaimed poets from all over the world.
Participants include Alice Oswald and Kathleen Jamie, Scotland’s new Makar Jackie Kay, Robert Crawford, Jim Carruth, Vahni Capildeo, James McGonigal and AB Jackson, Sarah Howe, Patience Agbabi, Kayo Chingonyi and Jacques Darras.
StAnza traditionally focuses on two themes which interweave and next year’s first theme, On the Road, showcases poetry inspired by and reflecting on travel and migration, while the second theme, the Heights of Poetry, looks at how poetry engages with Scotland’s high places, and the poetic connections between Scotland’s hills and mountains and those elsewhere.
Following on from the success of StAnza’s focus for 2016 on German poetry and culture, next year’s festival will have a dedicated language focus on French, under the title, La Nouvelle Alliance which will see various French speaking poets taking part along with other events with a French connection.
Other highlights include a poetry café with lunch and spoken word for social justice from the South African poet Sibusiso Conelius Simelane.
The Loud Poets, currently taking the country by storm generating a huge following with their unique take on spoken word poetry, are also on the programme as well as a tribute event to Alexander (Sandy) Hutchison, one of Scotland’s leading poets.
Stuart Turner, Head of EventScotland, said: “Among the many highlights promised by the 2017 programme, I particularly look forward to discover how themes relating to Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology are explored and would encourage as many visitors as possible to take in the festival when it arrives in March.”
