Fields of War - Opportunity for Booking

The Fields of War is an event ideal to mark the centenary of the First World War. Its broad sweep of contemporary poetry, with counterpointing prose, ranges across the century from 1914 to the present day. Performances last approximately one hour but can be tailored to suit specific event or venue requirements.

Poet and performer Chrys Salt reads from her collection Home Front/Front Line (Roncadora, 2013). A dialogue with her son, a Territorial Army paratrooper who was mobilised to Iraq in 2003 and spent five months in action, the poems are interposed with extracts from his letters from the front. Published to mark the 10th anniversary of the invasion, ‘it is a brave, beautiful and a deeply unsettling way of [looking] again at long-familiar events, as

though the mother of Wilfred Owen or Edward Thomas had kept a verse diary during the First World War’ (Andy Croft, Morning Star).

Reading from his collections The Book of Belongings (Arc, 2009) and Dry Stone Work (Arc, forthcoming 2014) Brian Johnstone looks at aspects of both World Wars, and touches on the conflicts in Vietnam, Cyprus, The Falklands and Yugoslavia. His poetry has been described as ‘a revelation’ (Stephen Lackaye, Edinburgh Review), as an ‘eloquent mapping of personal and social terrain.’ (Sarah Corbett, Hebden Bridge

Books of the Month.)

Make a Booking

For enquiries about availability and costs for this inspiring double-bill please email chrys@chryssalt.com and/or info@brianjohnstonepoet.co.uk

Both Chrys Salt & Brian Johnstone are registered with the Scottish Book Trust and can be booked for events in Scotland funded via Live Literature Scotland.