Chester Poets are 40

Chester Poets are 40

Chester Poets are looking for past members and friends to help them celebrate their 40^th Anniversary.  They first met on the 10^th October 1973 in Chester’s old Arts Centre which is now the site of the city’s library.  At that time they were known as “Spaces” and so they chose this as the title of their 25^th anthology which was published last September.  By the end of 1973 they had become known simply as “Chester Poets” and went on to become an integral part of the cultural life of Chester and its surrounding area with poets are drawn from all over Cheshire, Wirral and North Wales to their monthly meetings. 

The 40^th Anniversary will be celebrated with a whole day event at Stanley Palace on 19^th October as part of the Chester Literature Festival. There will be readings from Chester Poets past and present along with other local poetry groups and publishers who are being invited to take part in the performance.  A poetry book fair is planned which will include all of the Chester Poets publications currently available as well as publications from other local groups.

The Chester Poets would love to hear from any poetry groups who have been going longer than 40 years as they are surely one of the oldest poetry groups in the region.  They are also keen to hear from anyone with past connections to the group in the run-up to this event and can be contacted at their regular meetings on the last Thursday of every month from 8.00 pm in the upper room of the Boot Inn, Eastgate Street, Chester. Alternatively you can contact the Secretary, Edwin Stockdale at middlemarch1985@yahoo.co.uk  or search for Chester Poets on Facebook.