Poetry Arena line-up announced for the 10th Latitude

The line-up of wordsmiths have been announced for the 10th Latitude Festival. Happening from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th July 2015 in the grounds of Henham Park Estate, in Suffolk.

The Poetry Arena showcases the very best stand up and beat poets, alongside laureates and literary legends. Headlining this year will be Simon Armitage, with John Cooper Clarke, Michael Rosen, and Nick Helm who were the first poets to be announced. Joining them is a line-up including Blake Morrison, National Youth Theatre be bringing their new production of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry collection 'The World’s Wife', Ross Sutherland (pictured), Mike Garry, and Eddie Argos.

The Last Poets,  are a collective of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's Black Nationalist movement. Reformed numerous times, the collective have collaborated with Wu Tang Clan and Kanye West. At Latitude Last Poets Umar Bin Hassan, Sabrina Mahfouz , GREEdS, and Antony Anaxagorou, perform as part of the collective..

This year’s Poetry Arena line up will feature some stand up and theatre collaborations including Grace Savage the UK’s leading female beatboxer, will bring her new performance devised with The Paper Birds Theatre Company. Acting as a mouthpiece for young women today, Grace will explore the life, journey and experiences of a visually impaired young woman. Plus Brigitte Aphrodite will perform her poetry rock musical My Beautiful Black Dog, exploring the difficult and beauteous complexity of depression and mental health.

A Firm Of Poets the collection of spoken word artists and writers, Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Ralph Dartford and Matt Abbott will set out their manifesto to bring vital, accessible and energetic poetry to the masses.

Other poets announced today include Simon Mole, Rob Auton, Mark Grist, Tim Clare, Grace Savage, Francesca Beard, Homework, Sophie Rose, Steve Larkin, Clare Pollard, Jemima Foxtrot, Hannah Silva, Molly Naylor, Ben Norris, Rosy Carrick, Bohdan Piaceski, Deanna Rodger, Raymond Antrobus, Rachel Pantechnicon, Bac Beatbox Academy, Martin Figura, Joel Stickley, Tommy Sissons, Andrew McMillan, Rhian Edwards, James Grady, Emma Jones, Bridget Minamore, and Michelle Madsen.

Tania Harrison, Curator of the Arts Arenas and co-programmer of the Poetry Arena commented, "As a festival, Latitude has always prided itself on the breadth of our line ups and this year is no different. From The Last Poets who are as relevant and important today as they were when they first influenced the emergence of hip hop, to young up and coming poets such as Jemima Foxtrot under who’s influence all audiences fall, with her semi- autobiographical tales of young life in the UK.

"Latitude has grown a reputation for being the place to see new talent and indeed we are excited to be supporting a wealth of new talent across the festival this year. And from ones-to-watch to one-offs to must-sees- we will have some spectacular special guest appearances from the virtuoso talents of Chilly Gonzales on the Waterfront Stage to a celebration of poetry spanning the festival and the ages. From the genius of Simon Armitage, fresh from bringing Greek tragedy to our airwaves and stages with Troy in the Poetry Arena, to the Sound of 2015 George The Poet, a voice for his generation who can be found in the top five of the BBC Sound of 2015’s list and performing from his new album in the Film and Music Arena. We are thrilled to be presenting a line up befitting of our 10th anniversary – it’s set to be quite the Birthday Weekend!"

Latitude offers much more than coloured sheep and music, however and the first of the other entertainments of art which will include film, comedy, theatre, cabaret, dance, poetry, and literature have been revealed too.

The music line-up includes Alt-J, Portishead, and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will headline, plus Manic Street Preachers, Caribou, James Blake, Laura Marling, Wild Beasts, Lianne La Havas, Seasick Steve, Jose Gonzalez, Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, Benjamin Booker, JP Cooper, Jon Hopkins, The Vaccines, SBTRKT, Django Django, Public Service Broadcasting, Catfish & The Bottlemen, La Roux, Years And Years, Toro Y Moi, Savages, Wolf Alice, Young Fathers, Kwabs, Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek, King Creosote, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thurston Moore Band, The Districts, Soak, Clark, The 2 Bears, Adult Jazz, Kiasmos, Jack Garratt, Shura, Gengahr, Ibeyi, Susanne Sundfor, DM Stith, Duke Garwood, Leon Bridges, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Twilight Sad, Curtis Harding, Marika Hackman, Nadine Shah, Dolores Haze, Ben UFO, DJ Ez, Monki, Alexander Nut, The Four Owls, The Busy Twist, Werkha, Chilly Gonzales & Kaiser Quartett,  Sadler's Wells, The Portrait Choir, Simon Armitage, John Cooper Clarke, Michael Rosen, Nick Helm, George The Poet, and more.

For the line-up details as available see the Latitude line-up page.

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The early bird offer has ended. An adult weekend ticket is priced at £192.50 with a Family Camping option also available, a teen weekend ticket is priced at £132.50, with a weekend ticket for all children aged 5 -12 years priced at £8. Campervan permits are priced at £39.50, and mobilehome and caravan passes are priced at £59.50, Day tickets are not yet on sale.

Tickets can also be paid for in instalments, and secured with a first payment of £50.

Each year, a theme or group of ideas underscores Latitude's arts programme. The theme for 2015 has been announced as 'For Richer, For Poorer, For Better, For Worse'.

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