Welcoming Nick Murray.

​Nicholas Murray is a poet and literary biographer living in the Welsh Marches. He has written biographies of Franz Kafka, Matthew Arnold, Bruce Chatwin, Aldous Huxley and Andrew Marvell and has written books on the Victorian travellers and the British poets of the First World War. He has published several poetry collections, including Crossings: A
Journey through Borders (2016; Seren), and, most recently, The Yellow Wheelbarrow (2019; Melos).
He won the Basil Bunting Prize for poetry in 2015. He has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at London University and a tutor in creative non-fiction at the City Literary Institute in London.
With his wife Susan Murray he runs the award-winning poetry press Rack Press, based in Powys. His website is www.nicholasmurray.co.uk and his blog is www.bibliophilicblogger.blogspot.com   
If you would like to follow Nick on Instagram please use Rack Press, for twitter please use @RackPressPoetry 
Nicholas will read a selection of poems from his new volume of poems, The Yellow Wheelbarrow and the recent anthology, Borders.

Nicky Hetherington: “Cultivating Caterpillars” and other Poems

Nicky  grew up in rural East Anglia, and developed an early love of stories and rhymes.
 
After qualifying as a primary teacher she moved to Mid Wales where she has lived ever since writing for both children and adults on a range of topics, but she is particularly keen to use her writing to raise awareness of the climate crisis, and the beauty of the natural world around us.
 
She won the 2017 Oriel Davies Open Poetry Prize and the same year was placed 2nd in Writing Magazine’s haiku competition. She has also been published in magazines and anthologies, as well as editing and producing a children’s poetry pamphlet for Children in need 2019.
 
Her collection “Cultivating Caterpillars” is available to purchase from her website https://nickyhetherington.wixsite.com/nickyhetherington
and local shops in Welshpool and Machynlleth, 50p from each copy going to Montgomery Wildlife Trust.

​Graham Trew – Songs for the Natural World

Graham will perform a selection of songs recorded for the Festival. Graham conducts the Llanfair Singers and is a guest conductor of the Rhayader Male Voice Choir. He is President of Knighton and District Concert Society.
He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, winning the Gold Medal of the School in his final year, and at London University.
​His extensive international career has included operatic roles in France, Ireland and Holland, oratorio, recitals and recordings in Italy, the U.S.A., South Africa and the Antipodes, and television and radio recitals in Germany and the Caribbean. He has given masterclasses and judged prizes at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire, Leeds College of Music and Colchester Institute.

.Museums and Dementia: “It started with an Oxo tin”
Julia Llewellyn Roberts

Julia moved to Knighton in 2005, and, with her husband, John, set up
the Tower Gallery, a café and gallery selling art and books, which
functions as a community hub. In 2015, Julia became a member of
Knighton Museum & Gallery Trust and volunteered as its curator. In the
past five years, she has built an eclectic and remarkable collection of
artefacts, generously donated by community members, which provides a
unique window into the history of Knighton and the lives of its
inhabitants. Julia’s involvement with KINDA, the local dementia action
alliance, has influenced the creation of the collection and its display, and
she regularly uses objects for reminiscence sessions. The Museum, a
former haberdasher’s shop adjacent to the Clock Tower, is now a hub
for people living with dementia and their carers, and also offers guided
tours and talks to interested groups. Julia’s presentation will take place
in the Museum, and will focus on her work with those with dementia and
their carers.

Julia will be presenting in the Arts and Healing session on October 24. Time and link to be available soon. 

Our dedicated team are working behind the scenes, to bring you a very eclectic and interesting festival program via Zoom. We are featuring books, art & music and will have things on our 'menu' to attract all appetites, young and old.  

Back in 2018 Hannah - our lovely Library Assistant - decided to hold Knighton's first Literary Festival and it went amazingly we had 18 authors, signings and a small selection of stalls. 

2019 saw the festival return on a larger scale! Authors reading their work, , Artists in residence, workshops, poetry, children's crafts and a market that looked fantastic.