An Imperfect History of Poetry Swindon
Pulled together from the threads of a poor memory, the history of Poetry Swindon goes something like this...
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Once upon a time (in the early noughties?) there were a group of Swindon based poetry enthusiasts meeting in Swindon pubs to share poetry they had written. The name of the group is being somewhat evasive.
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Following this, and perhaps with some overlap, another group was formed, called BlueGate poets. The BlueGate poets would meet at Richard Jefferies museum and were named for the famous blue gate.
Around 2009/2010, BlueGate Poets became Poetry Swindon which, for several years, organised an annual Poetry Festival in Swindon (featuring the Battered Moons Poetry Competition), along with open mic nights, an online poetry blog called Amaryllis, and an annual printed anthology called Domestic Cherry.
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Sadly, some of those that spearheaded Poetry Swindon moved away and others became busy with life. There was some movement to reinvigorate things in 2019 but everything sadly fell away.
