BBC Radio 4 Beyond Belief: Poetry – Reaching for Divine Heights
Recorded live at the Bradford Literature Festival three poets join Giles Fraser to consider the relationship between poetry and the divine. Some of our most feted poets, from Rumi to John Donne, Tagore to William Blake – have found that poetry opens up a space to explore the divine.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare praised the poet’s eye, glancing ‘from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven’ as ‘imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown’.
In front of a live audience, a fascinating panel of contemporary poets and wordsmiths join Giles to discuss whether poetry can help bridge the gap between the physical and metaphysical worlds. Camille Ralphs, Testament and Kate Fox consider how their forebears have used words to try and climb spiritual ascents. Reading some of their own work, they’ll also share their own relationships between art and faith.
Listen to Beyond Belief: Poetry – Reaching for Divine HeightsAbout the Host
Giles Fraser
Giles Fraser is a journalist, broadcaster and the Vicar of St Anne’s, Kew. He can be heard on BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day, Moral Maze and presenting Beyond Belief.
About the Speakers
Camille Ralphs
Camille Ralphs is a poet and critic, and an editor at the Times Literary Supplement. Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous magazines, including the New York Review of Books, Poetry Review and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Kate Fox
Kate Fox is a Bradford-born stand up poet and broadcaster. She’s a regular contributor to Radio 3’s spoken word cabaret The Verb, has made two comedy series for Radio 4, been Poet in Residence for the Glastonbury Festival and the Great North Run and completed a PhD in stand up comedy. She is the author of Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women published by Harper North, and her most recent poetry collection The Oscillations from Nine Arches Press. She is on this year’s Forward Prizes judging panel. She is also a neurodivergent advocate whose latest show Bigger on the Inside explores neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who.
Testament
Testament is a writer, rapper and world record breaking human beatboxer. His play Black Men Walking was nominated at the UK Theatre Awards and the Writer Guild Awards. Testament’s work includes the celebrated Hip-Hop album Homecut: No Freedom Without Sacrifice and play Blake Remixed. He’s recently presented BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Wick.
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