The Yorkshire Post Says: In a relentless age, why Yorkshire's poetry village needs our support

Yorkshire has a grand tradition when it comes to poetry.
Marsden, West YorkshireMarsden, West Yorkshire
Marsden, West Yorkshire

This is the county where Andrew Marvell and Ted Hughes were both born and raised, while another literary titan, Philip Larkin, made Hull his home for the last 30 years of his life.

So it’s fitting that Marsden, whose residents include the acclaimed poets Samuel Laycock and Simon Armitage, should become the UK’s first poetry village.

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The brooding Colne Valley landscape has inspired numerous writers and artists over the years so it’s apt that organisers behind this campaign want to use poetry to promote the village as a literary and cultural destination.

Publishers have been quick to back the initiative by providing books that will line the shelves of local pubs for customers to browse through.

Amid the white noise of technology and the relentless pace of modern life, many still yearn for the stillness and quietude that poetry offers, and anything that celebrates this deserves unstinting support.