NEWS & RESEARCH
Local Poet Remembered in Heritage Open Days reading
The event will be a tribute to Sue’s leadership and generosity by fellow poets who will always remember her with gratitude and affection.
One of the online Heritage Open Days events which will take place in September will be dedicated to the memory of Sue Wrinch, local poet and organiser of the Winchester Loose Muse group, who died suddenly in July. A Hidden Nature reading will take place online and will feature 10 local poets.
Members of Loose Muse Winchester were shocked and saddened by the news of Sue Wrinch’s early death in July. Sue set up this monthly gathering in 2015 and booked a dazzling array of women poets and fiction writers to inspire members and provide a safe space for local women writers to share their work in open mic sessions. Her enthusiasm and commitment provided a wealth of opportunities for developing writers.
Poets at this year’s online reading will be inspired by the theme of ‘Hidden Nature’ and each poet will read a poem of their own as well as one of their choice from Sue’s published collections Down by Wild Water (2015) and Stained Lips (2020). The event will be a tribute to Sue’s leadership and generosity by fellow poets who will always remember her with gratitude and affection.
Nicky Gottlieb of Heritage Open Days said: “Sue previously organised a number of events for Winchester Heritage Open Days using the HODs themes including ‘Extraordinary Women’ and ‘People Power’. She inspired poets to produce wonderful new work and put together several vibrant performances for us at venues around the city.”
Jenny McRobert who is organising the event said: “We are honoured that a number of well known poets and writers will be joining us to read including Liz Berry, Rebecca Goss, Susmita Bhattacharya, and Claire Fuller. Also featured are local laureates Kathryn Bevis and Isabel Rogers.”
The Hidden Nature reading will be live streamed on Sunday 20 September at 2:00pm. Places must be booked.
We're going digital for 2020!
Nicky and Becky are delighted to announce that this year's 2020 festival will be going ahead, with free events and local stories at its heart.
The organisers of the Winchester Heritage Open Days festival are delighted to announce that this year's 2020 festival will be going ahead, with free events and local stories at its heart.
Since 2016, Winchester’s Heritage Open Days festival has grown to become an important event in the local calendar, with thousands of visitors attending the programme of events.
This year, with the uncertainty surrounding when cultural events will be able to run once more following the Covid-19 Pandemic, it has become clear that the traditional format of the festival will not be possible in September. The focus this year will be digital.
Commenting on the decision to focus on digital events this year, Festival Director Nicky Gottlieb said,
“We are enormously grateful to all our sponsors, supporters, volunteers and event organisers who have helped the Festival grow to become the success that it is. I am sure that there will be people who look forward to the events every year and will be disappointed by our decision not to hold events in the usual way this year.
However, it is important the festival is safe, is inclusive and does not add further cost or burden to businesses and organisations who at this time are getting back on their feet. Whilst we hope one or two organisations may be able to hold some in-person events (in line with government guidance at the time of the festival), our focus will be on encouraging digital events. We do this with the expectation that this year’s festival will be smaller.
We are working hard to plan for a digital festival this September, and this will include our very own podcast channel. We very much hope to welcome all our events and visitors back in the usual way in September 2021.”
Further details on the programme for the 2020 Digital Heritage Open Days Festival and the launch of our podcast channel in August will be released in due course.
Looking ahead to 2020
If you can help us in 2020 to secure a sustainable framework for Winchester Heritage Open Days, please do get in touch!
“NEWSFLASH - Further to the December update set out below, we are delighted to share we are now able to produce a printed programme and run a box office this year. More information will be shared soon.”
As many of you know there is no central funding for the festival, and the coordinating team are all unpaid volunteers, consequently Winchester Heritage Open Days has been completely dependent upon the two lead volunteers time and availability, as well as the sponsorship and grants from local organisations. This set up has worked incredibly well for the past four years but, we are sure you will agree, it is not sustainable.
Nicky and Becky are not disappearing!
So for the past eighteen months Nicky and Becky have, alongside running the 2019 festival, also been exploring other options with our key partners. Unfortunately, they have not been able to find a robust solution in time for 2020 and so whilst there will still be events next year they will be fewer in number and they won't be centrally organised or promoted.
Instead next year they will be turning their attention to fundraising for a much needed festival manager and will be seeking widespread support and help with sponsorship, venues, gala dinners and more. This change of direction is essential if we are to make sure we have a sustainable framework in place for 2021 and beyond.
We will still issue our regular newsletters, and so will continue to keep you posted on our progress as well as events. We will also be keeping our website and social media active although, as we are sure you will appreciate, for one year at least, these will be at a much reduced level. We hope to provide a holding page on our website showing which events will be taking place. In addition, the City Council has offered to list events on their pages in 2020. So still make a note of the dates in your diary!