Programme 2021
Although most of our programme will be on-line again this year, we plan to include some live events and activities (Covid permitting), including guided walks led by the East Radnorshire Ramblers and local experts in geology and history. These are marked below with an asterisk*.
If you would like to have a downloadable copy of the programme please click here
All events are FREE, and we are extremely grateful to all our contributors for generously waiving their fees so that we can bring you
this rich and enjoyable programme without charge. Tickets for all events are available from Eventbrite via our website here
Saturday 2 October
Climate Change and the Environment
The theme chosen for the first full day of the Festival is climate change and its effect on our environment, looked at from the viewpoint of scientists, artists, writers, and poets.
Recent extreme weather events such as the devastating floods and fires which have affected communities all over the world have focussed attention on climate change and what can be done to combat it. The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021.
10.00-11.30am: Climate Change Discussion Panel
Our panel includes:
Dr Gabrielle Walker, the eminent scientist, broadcaster, and expert on the energy industry, and author of four books including The Hot Topic: How to avoid Global Warming while still keeping the Lights On;
Peter Harper who coined the term ‘Alternative Technology’ in 1972 and claims he has regretted it ever since. He went on the become head of Research and Innovation at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, working on rapid decarbonisation models for the UK economy: and
Angie Zelter, Knighton resident and long-time activist for peace, the environment and climate. She founded Trident Ploughshares, has engaged in non-violent activism around the world and was the first person to be prosecuted after the 2019 Extinction Rebellion occupations in London. Her latest book, Activism for Life was published earlier this year by Luath Press.
11.30-11.45am Break
11.45-1.00pm: Carbon Chronicles
Film of a live performance of an opera about climate change and the history of carbon written by local musician and activist Camilla Cancantata (Saunders). This community production was performed by professional musicians, and local singers and actors at Pinner’s Hole in Knighton in August 2021. Filming and editing by Robert Clough.
2.00-2.30pm: Climate Change: A Local View
Presentations from the Teme Valley Environment Group (TVEG), Knighton in Bloom and the Knighton Community Woodlands Group showcasing the work that volunteers do to protect, preserve, and enhance our local environment.
2.30-4.00pm Climate Change: The Artists’ View
Three practitioners whose work engages with environmental concerns. Speakers include:
Emma Stibbon RA, who makes large-scale drawings and prints of landscapes that have been impacted by climate change, using on-the-spot drawing and photographs from her expeditions to locations under threat, including Antarctica, Hawaii, and the Swiss Alps.
Andrew Baldwin, who teaches printmaking at Aberystwyth University School of Art, and runs his own printmaking studio near Newtown. Andrew has developed a non-toxic, environmentally friendly ground for etching, B.I.G., that is used in print studios throughout the world.
Madi Acharya-Baskerville is an Asian born diaspora artist who lives and works in the UK. The themes she explores include environmental concerns, migration and exile and gender issues Madi’s use of “found” objects unites her work on these different themes and is in itself an environmentally friendly form of artmaking.
4.00-4.45pm: 100 Poems to Save the Earth.
Eminent Welsh publisher Seren Books celebrated their 40th anniversary this year, and to mark the event published a landmark anthology of poems, 100 Poems to Save the Earth. The anthology’s editors, Zoe Brigley and Kristian Evans will introduce the project, and three poets, Paul Henry, John McCullough, and Clare Pollard will read and discuss their poems.
Sunday 3 October
*10.00am Guided walk: A circular walk with an environmental focus from Knighton including part of the Offa’s Dyke path organized by the East Radnor Ramblers group. Booking essential; Please email jacquisalt@icloud.com more details found here
*2.30pm: Fossil fieldtrip: a walk led by world-famous local geologists Joseph Botting and Lucy Muir, who will talk about the fossil-rich geology of the area. We hope to find some fossils! Booking essential; Please email gillianvforrester@gmail.com
Tuesday 5 October
*10 am–12 noon National Poetry Day Celebration (Live Event at Knighton Community Centre)
This year National Poetry Day takes place during the week of the Festival. We have included a feast of poetry in our programme and, to celebrate National Poetry Day, the Marches Poets will be at the Tuesday café in the Comm to read a selection of their poems. Free with complimentary hot drinks and cake; no booking required. Cake-cutting at 10.30am; reading at 11.00am.
Wednesday 6 October
*10.00am – East Radnor Ramblers has generously opened their regular walk in the Knighton area to non-members as part of their contribution to the Festival. Booking with walk leader essential;email ocarrollf@gmail.com. details found here
Saturday 9 October
10.00-11.30 am Crime Cymru
A panel of three authors who are all members of the Crime Cymru collective of Welsh crime writers, spanning crime fiction and non-fiction. The speakers will introduce their work and talk about why Wales is such a vibrant hub of crime writing. The speakers are:
Alis Hawkins, who is best known for her historical crime fiction series, the Teifi Valley Coroner, set in the nineteenth century, and featuring blind investigator Harry Probert-Jones and his assistant, John Davies.
Katherine Stansfield, who is a multi-genre novelist and poet who grew up on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall and now lives in Cardiff. Her Cornish Mysteries crime series is set in the 1840s and features unorthodox detective duo Anna Drake and Shilly Williams.
Leslie Scase, who is the Shropshire-based author of the Inspector Chard Mysteries, which are classic murder mystery thrillers set in Pontypridd in the heyday of Victorian Britain.
11.30-11.45am Break
11.45am-12.30pmThe Poetry Pharmacy
Deborah Alma, a poet and the owner of the Poetry Pharmacy bookshop, café, and poetic therapy centre in Bishops Castle, discusses her innovative therapeutic practice and the important role that poetry plays in our lives.
12.30-1.30pm Welsh literature – Parthian Books – New Writing
Parthian Books is a Welsh literary publishing success story. Founded nearly thirty years ago by Richard Lewis Davies as a small press, Parthian is a flourishing and innovative publisher with an international reputation. Two of Parthian’s authors, poet and short-story writer Susie Wild, and novelist, critic and broadcaster Gary Raymond, will talk about their literary work, and read from their recent publications.
1.30-2.30pm Break
2.30-3.30 pm- Victorian Radicals
Tim Barringer, Chair of the History of Art,Yale University, will give a lecture on the Pre-Raphaelites and their contemporaries, focussing on works from the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum’s stellar collection.
This talk will include a selection of related Victorian songs, sung by Graham Trew, who is a professional baritone and teacher. Graham directs the Llanfair Singers, is a guest conductor of the Rhayader Male Voice Choir, and President of Knighton and District Concert Society.
3.30-3.45pm Break
3.45-4.30pm Films of readings of poems about Offa’s Dyke, specially commissioned by artist Dan Llywelyn Hall to accompany the exhibition Walking with Offa (Cerdded gydag Offa) and music by duo Kandinsky’s Sox.
Sunday 10 October
*10.00am Circular Walk from Knighton including a different section of the Offa’s Dyke path from the walk on 3 October, organized by the East Radnor Ramblers group. Booking essential contact walk leader ocarrollf@gmail.com; details found here.
*2.30-3.30pm: Looking At Clues: Guided walk of Knighton by local historian John Davis, who will show how we can use visual clues to find out more about the buildings and history of Knighton. Places limited, booking essential Please email gillianvforrester@gmail.com
4.00pm: Guided tour by the artist of the Walking with Offa (Cerdded gydag Offa) exhibition
In 2021 Welsh artist Dan Llewellyn Hall, made a series of paintings of the Offa’s Dyke Path to celebrate its 50th anniversary. These are currently displayed in a special exhibition at the Offa’s Dyke Centre in Knighton. Places limited, booking essential. Please email gillianvforrester@gmail.com