Poetry - SHORE 2 SHORE WITH CAROL ANN DUFFY & JACKIE KAY

Following a hugely successful first tour in 2016, Shore 2 Shore is returning for Independent Bookshop Week 2018 and the final stop on this UK tour will be celebrating Bookpoint Dunoon at Dunoon Burgh Hall.

This fantastic event will feature live poetry readings from Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy; Scotland's Makar, Jackie Kay; the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke; Queen's Gold Medal winning poet, Imtiaz Dharker, along with local Dunoon poet Tariq Latif and musical MC John Sampson. Before reaching Dunoon, the tour will have crossed the UK to visit and perform in nine independent bookshops, joined at each one by a local poet. Off the Shelf: A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse will be published by Picador in paperback on 14th June 2018 and will be available to buy at the event.  Reserve your copy in advance for the reduced price of just £6 through the "Book" option here. 

The first Shore 2 Shore saw Carol Ann Duffy and her hand-picked fellow artists travelling across the UK, performing their work, celebrating independent bookshops and bringing poetry to the heart of the communities that they serve. 1,500 miles were covered, audiences of well over 3,000 attended 15 events and nearly 2,000 books were sold. Carol Ann Duffy said: ‘After the inspiring success of Shore to Shore in 2016, Shore 2 Shore fulfils my promise to visit and celebrate some of the Independent Bookshops we missed last time. With glad hearts, we are climbing back in the Tour Bus and journeying from Penarth to Dunoon to pay tribute to Bookshops, readers and poetry, picking up a different poet at each stop to perform on the pilgrimage.’ Meryl Halls of the Booksellers Association said: ‘The BA is delighted that Macmillan and the wonderful poets on the tour have embraced life on the road for a second time to visit and celebrate indie bookshops during IBW.  What better partnership could there be than between iconic creative poets and the cultural and social hubs that are independent bookshops across our country? These are some of the most creative and welcoming bookshops, and I look forward to watching the tour unfold, and to dispatches from the tour bus!’