On Thursday 27th September 2012 LCI hosted an evening with the Poet Laureate Carol Ann-Duffy, accompanied by music from John Sampson with a display of artwork from Stephen Raw.The event was held in a packed Leeds Minster where an audience of approx. 400 people, including Bishop John Packer and the Lord Mayor. Carol Ann Duffy read from her latest collection, The Bees and earlier work. Favourites included, The Christmas Truce, a poem about the cessation of conflict on Christmas Eve, 1914 and, on a more humorous note, two readings from The World and His Wife, imagining what it might be like to be the wife of King Midas or Dr Faustus.
The poetry was punctuated by comical interludes and lively, jaunty music from John Sampson. Pipes and brass lifted the audience or provided a poignant backdrop to some of the poems.
The highlight of the evening was the first reading of In Regio Loidis, a new poem written especially for the event and celebrating the making of Leeds Minster. The poem took on added significance as its words filled the space “between the river and the human churn.” Listening, we were profoundly aware that we were now the “good citizens” on whom the windows dropped their colours like petals. It was a real privilege to be woven with the history, the present and the future of this “sacred site”.
In the interval, drinks and nibbles were served, and the audience had the opportunity to see Stephen Raw’s artwork – a vibrant representation of the poem, beautifully captured on canvas. There was the opportunity to buy prints of the work and the original will now be kept on display in the minster.
If you were there, let us know what you thought of the event!
Click here for a personal reflection on meeting the Poet Laureate before the event.
To read the poem, In Regio Loidis, click here.
In Regio Loidis
