Former British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is bringing his Poetry For The Many tour to the north with events in both Derry and Belfast.
Mr Corbyn will be joined by Len McCluskey, former general secretary of Unite the Union, with whom he collaborated on the Poetry For The Many anthology.
The anthology grew out of their shared lifelong enthusiasm for poetry. In it, they discuss those poems which have “moved and enlightened” them.
Included are Oscar Wilde’s Sonnet to Liberty and Portglenone priest Fr Charles O’Neill’s ballad The Foggy Dew.
The poetry choices of Mr Corbyn and Mr McCluske travel over the centuries and continents, with poets ranging from Shakespeare and Juana de la Cruz, through William Blake and Emily Dickinson, to Bertolt Brecht, Stevie Smith and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Rounding out the collection are appreciations of poems selected by guest contributors.
All royalties from Poetry For The Many are being donated to the Peace and Justice Project, which is involved in grassroots campaigns, including Right To Clothing - seeking an end to clothing deprivation as a result of poverty.
The Poetry For The Many tour begins in Galway on Hiroshima Day (August 3). It moves to the Peacemakers’ Museum in Derry on August 4, at 2.30pm; then the Crescent Vitality Centre, Belfast on August 5, at 7.00pm; and St Mary’s College on August 6, at 12pm, as part of Féile an Phobail.
