Winchester Poetry Festival has three excellent poetry events coming up.
The first is Everyday Histories ‘wordshop’ with the Hampshire Poet for Winchester Heritage Open Days.
It takes place at The Pilgrims’ Hall, Winchester on Saturday 19th September | from 10:30am-12pm.
Damian Kelly-Basher, invites you to turn ordinary stories into magical poems in the evocative setting of Pilgrims’ Hall.
Join Damian Kelly-Basher – Hampshire Poet 2024-27 – for a creative writing wordshop followed by a sharing session, drawing on the Heritage Open Days theme of ‘Everyday Histories’.
At this interactive event Damian asks us to imagine the lives of the ordinary people who have worked at and visited this spectacular medieval building through the ages. Do their stories have connections to our own daily lives?
This is a ‘wordshop’. It’s open, friendly and you don’t need any writing experience in order to participate. Damian will guide you through writing exercises to create a poem of your own, which you can share with the group at the end, if you wish.
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance: winchesterpoetryfestival.org/what-s-on
Next up is National Poetry Day: A Haiku Walk with Mark Rutter and University of Winchester.
The walk begins at Handlebar Cafe, Winchester on Thursday 1st October and runs from 4 to 5:30pm.
Join Mark Rutter and roam St Catherine’s Hill and the water meadows to create short poems inspired by the landscape and National Poetry Day 2026 theme: wonder. This event is in partnership with University of Winchester.
Why a ‘haiku walk’? The Japanese haiku focusses on a single moment, and is traditionally based upon close observation. Because of this, writing haiku can be a way to put aside the cares and concerns which tend to dominate our lives, and focus attention on the details of the natural world. Haiku poets like Basho and Issa were famous walkers, and wrote on the move – and this is precisely what will be happening at the event.
Tickets are free, but must be booked in advance: winchesterpoetryfestival.org/what-s-on
Finally, Winchester Poetry Day 2026 is at The ARC, Winchester, on Saturday 10th October from 10am to 5pm.
It offers a day of poetry activities celebrating ‘performance and participation’ where everyone is welcome.
It will feature Performing The Lyric Self poetry workshop with Rachel Long, The Hampshire Young Poets’ celebration event 2026 with Hampshire Cultural Trust, Meet our Artistic Director: Erica Hesketh, poetry open mic and the live announcement of the Winchester Poetry Prize 2026 winners with Julia Copus
Explore the programme: winchesterpoetryfestival.org/what-s-on
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