A WRITER from North Wales has been chosen as the first poet-in-residence for the newly refurbished Llangollen Pavilion.
Sophie McKeand will perform at the venue as part of a special concert celebrating its re-opening on Wednesday, May 26.
Ms McKeand, 34, graduated from Glyndwr University, Wrexham with a BA Honours in English Literature, and describes herself as a community based performance poet.
“I am delighted to be working with Llangollen Pavilion to bring the spoken word genre to a wider audience," she said.
“People are often wary of poetry, having had a bad experience of it at school.
“I love the classic poets, like Bryon, Shelley and Keats, but they’re not always taught in a very dynamic way in schools.
“I see my role as inspiring audiences to engage again with the spoken word and understand its power to entertain and enthral.”
Sophie began writing poetry and performing them while studying for her degree in 2004.
Her first performance was at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool which has a good reputation for supporting poets.
From there she established herself as a guest poet and compère and now regularly performs across North Wales.
But it is not easy Ms McKeand added: “Opportunities for performance poets are few and far between here.
“I find myself having to produce my own events in order to get poetry acknowledged on the arts scene.
“It’s a shame as there are so many talented poets locally but there just aren’t the events at which to perform.
“I’m hoping that as Llangollen Pavilion’s Poet for 2010 I can increase the audience for poetry and work with community groups and other local poets to develop people’s enjoyment of the spoken word.”
Ms McKeand is one of a number of North Wales based artists chosen to perform at Llangollen Pavilion’s re-opening concert.
The venue has undergone a £1.6 million refurbishment funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and Denbighshire County Council.
Also on the concert billing is the internationally acclaimed male voice choir, Côr Godre'r Aran from Bala, Adran Rhuthun, a choir of primary school age children already achieving national success, Wrexham band, Heal the Last Stand, local duo Rachel Lloyd and Matt Nicholls, and a performance from New Dance.
Llangollen Pavilion’s communications officer, Elin Williams said: “We are delighted to welcome Sophie as the Pavilion’s poet for 2010.
“Her appointment is part of a new chapter in the history of the venue as it seeks to reflect the wide range of talented artists and musicians in North Wales and offer them opportunities to perform in a local venue.
“We want to ensure as many people as possible can join us for the re-opening night so have kept tickets reasonably priced.
“This concert launches a full programme of events at the Pavilion which will bring both national and local performers to the venue.”
Tickets for the concert on Wednesday, May 26 at 7.30pm are available from the Llangollen Pavilion website at http://www.pavilion-llangollen.com