2013 Website Poet In Residence: Kate Fox

We're very pleased to announce that our 2013 Website Poet in Residence is Kate Fox, who will be attending the Festival for the very first time. Kate has has been a regular Poet for Radio 4's Saturday Live since 2007 and she was Poet in Residence for the Great North Run in 2011 (writing and performing a poem whilst running 13 miles). She's hoping that writing poems whilst living in a tent will be easy in comparison.

Kate is also a comedian and her show about not wanting children - Good Breeding - will be at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Her collection of new and selected poems "Fox Populi" was published this spring by Smokestack Books. Find out more about Kate at www.katefox.co.uk or on Twitter @katefoxwriter.


Other People’s Baggage

They say;

It’s somewhere England keeps on dreaming,
its progressiveness has never died,
or- it’s a festival that’s lost it’s meaning,
middle-aged and gentrified.

It’s not as good as it used to be
or it’s better than it’s ever been.
It’s somewhere to see things in a whole new light
or just somewhere to be seen.

You don’t go there if you want to be free
or, it lets you be whoever you are,
It’s where everyone’s equal with mud on their feet
or the corporate culture has gone too far.

We used to go there to escape The Man
and now we’re worried that he’s there,
or it’s still a place to explore an ideal world
and find new ways to make it fair.

It’s a posh prison camp, the Kate Moss show,
it’s a place to flog your brand
or it’s a community of exploration
which can inspire you to take a stand.

It’s a farmer’s visionary gift,
a jewel for the nation,
or a symbol of selling out,
a site of working class alienation.

It’s too expensive and corporate,
I’m fed up with all that shit
or it’s a place for beautiful pleasures
where the alternative flame’s still lit.

It’s too multiple for simple labels,
I suspect it might be all of them and none
but I don’t want to be burdened with other people’s baggage
before my packing has even begun.




I’ve Never...

I’ve never worn a onesie in public,
I’ve never played a spoon,
I’ve never done a bungee jump
I’ve never gone up in a hot air balloon.

I’ve never laughed at Andy Murray
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury.

I’ve never eaten a grasshopper,
I’ve never flown to Peru,
I’ve never scattered rose petals onto a bed
I’ve never had a tattoo

I’ve never danced like Bryan Ferry
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury

I’ve never ridden an elephant,
I’ve never read War and Peace
I’ve never kissed a girl,
I’ve never knitted a fleece.

I’ve never had an affair with John Terry
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury

I could carry on listing forever,
these things that I’ve never done,
but now I’m going to experience
thousands of them in one.

I’m going to see the Rolling Stones,
I’m going to be magnetically healed.
I’m going to talk to strangers whilst poo-ing,
I’m going to sleep in a massive field.

I’m going to buy waterproof outfits,
I’m going to use a She Wee,
I’m going to discover the next big thing
I’m going to feel free

There are so many things we’ll never do,
many of them unnecessary,
but for me this one’s a rite of passage,
I’m finally going to Glastonbury!