Festival 2020 »

Talks & Conversations

Photo: Dave Vallis

Each festival is launched by a public figure with a connection to one of the festival’s themes or with an interest in poetry or the arts in general. The long-running In Conversation events focus on a single poet or writer and are an opportunity to encounter them in a more informal setting. Each event features a discussion of their life and writing – often focusing on one of the festival’s themes – and includes readings of a few poems – either the writer’s own or a selection of their personal favourites. The StAnza Lecture has been running since 2002 and has, over the years, sparked controversy, inspired reappraisals and highlighted new approaches. An innovation since 2008, Poetry Breakfasts offer a relaxed start to the day with a group of poets chatting about their poetry and the poetry scene with which they are familiar, finding some things in common, some differences, and reading one or two poems - an ideal introduction to the poets and their poetry.

Festival Launch Extravaganza »

Enjoy a sneak peek of some of the highlights of StAnza 2020

Wed 4 March | 18:30 - 20:45 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Auditorium

Meet the Artist »

Meet the artist and poet behind mira, a collaboration in word and stitch

Thu 5 March | 13:15 - 14:00 | free / ticketed | J & G Innes Ltd, Booksellers, South Street, Upstairs Gallery

Special Past & Present »

A rare encounter with treasures from the University of St Andrews Library’s Special Collections

Thu 5 March | 14:15 - 15:15 | free / ticketed | Napier Room, Martyrs Kirk, North Street

The StAnza 2020 Lecture: Mother, Mother Ocean »

Matthew Caley on Modernist women's poetics and the sea

Thu 5 March | 15:30 - 16:30 | £4.50/£3.50 | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Auditorium

Meet the Artist »

Meet the artist behind Over the Line

Thu 5 March | 16:00 - 16:45 | FREE | Preservation Trust Museum, North Street, Upstairs gallery

Poetry at Sunset »

Maitreyabandhu on Cezanne

Thu 5 March | 19:00 - 19:30 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room

Breakfast at the Poetry Café: Coast Lines »

Link for Live Streaming of this event.

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/livevideo/one/

This event and the other two Poetry Breakfast events at this year’s festival will be webcast. Please note these are live streaming webcasts, we are not recording the events, so you can only watch them while they are live; also you will not find anything at the link above until the events actually begin.

Wake up and smell the poetry!

Fri 6 March | 10:00 - 11:10 | £5/£4 | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Studio Theatre

Meet the Artist »

Roderick Manson and Denis Mollison discuss Portraits of the Edge

Fri 6 March | 11:30 - 12:15 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room

On the Same Page »

Three Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature reflect on writing in Britain 200 years after the society was founded

Fri 6 March | 14:15 - 15:15 | £4.50/£3.50 | Holy Trinity, Queens Terrace, Small Hall

Meet the Artist »

Learn more about WrapperRhymes with Helena Nelson and Jenny Elliott

Fri 6 March | 15:45 - 16:30 | FREE | J & G Innes Ltd, Booksellers, South Street, Upstairs Gallery

Poetry at Sunset »

North Uist Sea Poems with Pauline Prior-Pitt and Catherine Eunson

Fri 6 March | 19:00 - 19:40 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Studio Theatre

Breakfast at the Poetry Café: Due North »

Link for Live Streaming of this event.

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/livevideo/one/

This event and the other two Poetry Breakfast events at this year’s festival will be webcast. Please note these are live streaming webcasts, we are not recording the events, so you can only watch them while they are live; also you will not find anything at the link above until the events actually begin.

Wake up and smell the poetry!

Sat 7 March | 10:00 - 11:10 | £5/£4 | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Studio Theatre

Meet the Artist »

Talk to the collaborators behind Berlin Water and Berlin Umbrella

Sat 7 March | 11:30 - 12:15 | FREE | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Level 4 Gallery

Past & Present »

Sarah Corbett and Katie Garner on female poets from the Romantic era

Sat 7 March | 11:30 - 12:30 | £4.50/£3.50 | Holy Trinity, Queens Terrace, Small Hall

Round Table »

An intimate reading with D.A. Powell

Sat 7 March | 11:30 - 12:15 | £6.50/£5.00 | Green Room, St Leonards Quad, St Leonards School, South Street

Meet the Artist »

Sarah Corbett and Zoe Benbow share their responses to Dorothy Wordsworth

Sat 7 March | 14:30 - 15:15 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room

Round Table »

Anna Crowe delves into some of her favourite poems in this intimate event

We're sorry that Lachlan Mackinnon is unable to join us, but delighted that Anna Crowe will be reading in his stead.

Sat 7 March | 15:45 - 16:30 | £6.50/£5.00 | Green Room, St Leonards Quad, St Leonards School, South Street

Meet the Artist »

Robyn Marsack shares what she learned editing Fifty Fifty

Sat 7 March | 16:00 - 16:45 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room

Breakfast at the Poetry Café: Translation »

Link for Live Streaming of this event.

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/livevideo/one/

This event and the other two Poetry Breakfast events at this year’s festival will be webcast. Please note these are live streaming webcasts, we are not recording the events, so you can only watch them while they are live; also you will not find anything at the link above until the events actually begin.

Poets and translators discuss translation and familial languages

Sun 8 March | 10:00 - 11:00 | £5/£4 | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Studio Theatre

Meet the Artist »

Meet the filmmakers, poet and musician behind Return to Brownsbank

Sun 8 March | 14:15 - 15:00 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room

Desert Island Poems »

Jill Abram invites Val McDermid to share her favourite poems

Sun 8 March | 15:30 - 16:30 | £6.50/£5.00 | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Auditorium

Poetry at Sunset »

Kurdish poet Bejan Matur reading in translation with Jen Hadfield

Sun 8 March | 19:00 - 19:40 | free / ticketed | Byre Theatre, Abbey Street, Conference Room