Poet Laureate plans Pembrokeshire visit as part of UK library tour

The prestigious UK-wide Poet Laureate Library Tour will stop in Pembrokeshire this Spring with a reading by Simon Armitage included.

The Riverside Library, Haverfordwest is delighted to be welcoming the tour and Poet Laureate Mr Armitage to an event on March 8^that 6pm.

He will be joined by special guests BAFTA and Grierson-nominated Welsh poet, novelist and playwright Owen Sheers and one of the Representing Wales poets, Bethany Handley.

The evening will also open the new gallery exhibition that celebrates the life and work of Dylan Thomas, with a particular focus on his poetry and iconic play for voices, Under Milk Wood.

The exhibition is hosted by Pembrokeshire Library Service in association with the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Each Spring this decade, Mr Armitage will give readings in libraries across the UK, from the flagship libraries of big cities to the smaller ones that serve rural and remote communities. Using the alphabet as a compass, his journey will celebrate the library as one of the great and necessary institutions.

Simon Armitage said: “My experience of reading and writing began in the village library where I grew up, then in the nearby town library, then in libraries at various places of study and teaching. For many people they are an invaluable aspect of everyday life, giving access not just to books but to services, learning, conversation and creative thinking.

“I want to pay my respects to these unique institutions. By planning readings up to a decade in advance I am being optimistic about the future of our libraries and challenging those authorities who would consider closing them down.

“I want to celebrate the physical space of libraries and take my work back into places that have given me so much.”

His H to K Libraries Tour launches in Harlesden Library, Brent, before making its way to Haverfordwest and on to Scotland before a finale in Haltwhistle Library, Northumberland.