Geoffrey Winch joins first virtual Open Mic Poetry of 2021
The event will be uploaded to the website on Friday, 29 January and available for browsing thereafter.
Open Mic organiser Barry Smith said: “It’s a pleasure to have our old friend Geoffrey opening the 2021 series of readings. He has been a great supporter of poetry in the community as well as a fine poet in his own right. His latest book, Velocities and Drifts of Wind, is his most ambitious collection to date. Drawing inspiration from Keats’ Sleep and Poetry, the poems follow the winds of change through landscape, art and history to offer a quiet wisdom on the nature of things grounded in close, physical observation.
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Hide Ad“Whether dealing with pebbled beaches, the rumbling sounds of a slow train or contemplating imaginative portraiture, the poems give much to savour.”
Geoffrey Winch was born and educated in Reading, Berkshire, and subsequently lived in Hampshire and Warwickshire where he worked as a surveyor and highway engineer. On retiring from full-time employment, he and his wife relocated to Felpham.
His poetry has been published widely in the UK, USA and online. He is currently associated with a number of creative writing groups within West Sussex.
In 2011 he was ranked as the UK’s Best Small Press Poet by Purple Patch magazine and is the author of six poetry collections including West Abutment Mirror Images, and, most recently, Velocities and Drifts of Winds published in 2020.
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Hide AdBarry added: “Since the pandemic stopped live poetry readings, we’ve had to find new ways of keeping in touch with our audiences and sharing a love of words with fellow writers and poetry buffs. Our online open mic series has been hugely popular drawing hundreds of visitors to our website. We’ve had lots of contributions from both local poets and guest writers from near and far, including some very distinguished poets. It’s been splendid to have the support of many writers from across the country keen to be part of the poetry scene here at Chichester. It’s not quite the same as a live reading, but it’s a good way to keep the ball rolling in these difficult times.”
Online Open Mic Poetry is available on the Open Mic Poems page of the Chichester Poetry website from January 29.
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