{"id":57890,"date":"2023-10-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/?p=57890"},"modified":"2024-07-22T16:03:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T15:03:27","slug":"national-poetry-day-2023-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/national-poetry-day-2023-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"National Poetry Day 2023 – Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year, National Poetry Day is based on the theme of Refuge, a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as \u2018shelter or protection from danger or trouble.1<\/a><\/sup><\/strong> For many of us, the term \u2018Refuge\u2019 is synonymous with international migration and displaced communities fleeing war, persecution, and environmental devastation in pursuit of safety. According to The UN Refugee Agency, over 110 million people have been forced to flee their homes as of May 2023, constituting a global crisis.2<\/a><\/sup><\/strong> The passage to safety is treacherous for many and involves taking various modes of risk-laden transport. Michael Rosen\u2019s poem \u2018On the Move Again from Somewhere\u2019<\/strong><\/a> gives a sense of such a journey.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migration divides opinion across Europe with refugees viewed as a threat to National Security by some and as vulnerable individuals requiring protection by others. Brian Bilston\u2019s \u2018Refugees\u2019 poem<\/strong><\/a> skilfully describes these opposing viewpoints in a clever format. As individuals, we can experience contradictory feelings and opinions on this subject as encapsulated by Imtiaz Dharker\u2019s poem \u2018The Right Word\u2019 <\/strong><\/a> in which the poet has an internal debate with herself. Matt Goodfellow\u2019s poem \u2018At the End of the Day\u2019<\/strong><\/a> speaks of finding refuge in writing, a vehicle that can help us to process our feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u2018Refuge\u2019 may also conjure images of the places we feel most comfortable and secure, from sinking into a comfortable armchair after a difficult day to being in the warm embrace of our friends and loved ones. For Shirley Hughes, refuge could be found in \u2018The Grass House\u2019<\/strong><\/a> amongst the greenery of nature. Our safe havens all differ and for Caleb Femi<\/strong><\/a>, it is the concrete walls of his childhood home at North Peckham Estate in South London where he feels safest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Poetry Day invites everyone to come together to share their voice and \u2018help bridge understanding in our community.\u20193<\/a><\/sup><\/strong> Join the conversation in the Library, where we have curated a selection of resources and poems. Find our National Poetry Day display at the green pod on the third floor until mid-October. We\u2019ve also pulled together a selection of poetry-related links on Wakelet here<\/strong>.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poetry books can be found on LibrarySearch<\/a>. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about National Poetry Day at nationalpoetryday.co.uk<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canterbury Christ Church University has partnered with the local charitable organisation Canterbury 4 Ukraine \u2013 find out more at https:\/\/canterbury4ukraine.org\/<\/strong><\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Rebecca Law (Library and Information Advisor)
Featured image illustration by Daria Hlazatova from Chernivtsi, Ukraine (https:\/\/nationalpoetryday.co.uk\/<\/strong><\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Oxford English Dictionary<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Refugee Statistics | USA for UNHCR (unrefugees.org<\/strong>)<\/a>\u00a0 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. About National Poetry Day – National Poetry Day<\/strong><\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This year, National Poetry Day is based on the theme of Refuge, we look at the poems featured and highlight what will be available in the library to celebrate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3045,"featured_media":57894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Oxford English Dictionary<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\",\"id\":\"6c80a967-c36c-4f84-bc9e-fcda09209bdc\"},{\"content\":\"Refugee Statistics | USA for UNHCR (unrefugees.org<\/strong>)<\/a>\u00a0\",\"id\":\"7032ec23-17e8-4031-baa2-e78d8217a545\"},{\"content\":\"About National Poetry Day - National Poetry Day<\/strong><\/a>\",\"id\":\"1c72c29f-8a5e-4604-8cff-987f1f08f2b7\"}]"},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,1018],"class_list":["post-57890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-canterbury","tag-national-poetry-day"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Steve Peters","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/638\/2023\/09\/NPD2023-WebsiteBanner-1-1600x900-1-768x432-1.jpg","postExcerpt":"This year, National Poetry Day is based on the theme of Refuge, we look at the poems featured and highlight what will be available in the library to celebrate.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3045"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57890"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57914,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57890\/revisions\/57914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}