StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival, came to a close on Sunday with organisers hailing it a huge success.
Some famous writers descended on St Andrews for the event, including poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Louis de Bernieres, more commonly known as the author of best-selling novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, who read from his first collection of poetry.
With a thematic heart of its own, inspired by Scotland’s hosting of this year’s Commonwealth Games and the 100th anniversary of the First World War, Eleanor Livingstone, festival director, said that StAnza 2014 had exceeded all expectations.
She said: “We estimate there has been well over the anticipated 14,000 attendances across the four days.
“Our opening night event really was one of the highlights of the festival and launching StAnza with a circus theatre show proved to be an exciting new direction for us and one which was overwhelmingly successful.
“The atmosphere within the auditorium was electric and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house.”
