Reflections on Shelley at St Margaret’s Church Warnham; the Shelley Festival 200 poetry competition celebration, 10th September 2022.

“The stars have been lit and so has my heart”, this line rang out in St Margaret’s Church Warnham on the evening of September 10th at Reflections on Shelley, the final event of the Shelley 200 Festival Horsham organised by the Shelley Memorial Project. This included the Festival Poetry Competition prize- giving alongside poetry reading and musical performances reflecting on the life and work of the great poet. The poem quoted, Sun Setting, by Kezia Atkinson, was the winning entry in the 7-10 age group and it seemed supernaturally to capture the mood in the church where Percy Bysshe Shelley was baptised in 1792, but where his death 200 years ago is not commemorated. Together there we heard of his atheism, his radicalism and his wonder at nature in the bruising context of the nation’s recent loss of its Queen Elizabeth II, Defender of the Faith. Our presenter, Horsham resident and BBC Radio 4 newsreader Chris Aldridge navigated these ironies perfectly - as a reader of the shipping forecast well might.

Winning poems were interwoven with exquisite music; the Stane Street Sinfonietta clarinet trio played arias from Shelley’s favourite Mozart Opera Don Giovanni, and West Sussex Young Musician of the year Zoe Barnett evoked the poet’s “Lady with a Guitar” in her flawless rendering of Walton’s 5 Bagatelles. The Lights and Bushels Theatre Company brought examples of Shelley’s work to vibrant life.

Poems came from far afield; the winner of the 15 – 18 age group was Afra Samusdeen in Sri Lanka with her eerie eulogy for childhood The Fantastical Shrubbery. They spoke too of far places; San Francisco in the overall Third Prize Chris Campbell’s sweeping, intimate Yellow Pufferfish at Bathtime, an abandoned Hebridean island in the extraordinarily crafted First Prize Winner, St Kilda Mouse.

Yet the focus was intimate; on our closeness with our world and each other;

“If I could, I would walk right now with you” is Shelley’s voice in 2nd prize winner Ann Westgarth’s heartbreaking Cor Cordium (Heart of Hearts) and “Where will birds nest?” the plaintive question from 11-year-old Navneeth Prasanth, a question Shelley might well ask if he saw how we live now.

David Hide, Chair of the Shelley Memorial Project speaking afterwards said, ‘ It has been a wonderful conclusion to our Festival. We really enjoyed celebrating our wonderful local poet in his anniversary year and we hope all those who attended the Festival enjoyed our events too. We are now looking forward to progressing our discussions with Horsham District Council on how we ensure the delivery of our key objective of providing a lasting memorial to this great literary figure’

The event was sponsored by Brock Taylor, Gatwick Community Trust and Steyning Book Shop, and held with the help of The Warnham Society and St Margaret’s Church Committee.

The Poetry Competition judges were Ted Gooda, Nicola Garrard and Sally Sanderson. Anthologies are available via the SMP website at £5.00 each.