Poems of Home and Exile
Earlier this month I was lucky enough to visit the Mayfield Festival
and attended a wonderful poetry reading given by Jonty Driver and Isobel
Dixon. ‘Poems of Home and Exile’ was
the title and it was a timely reminder of the feeling of loss and heartache that
exile, from the country of one’s birth, can evoke.
Both Driver and Dixon were born and raised in South Africa. Listening to their poetry it was easy to
realise how much the country meant to both of them and what a wrench it must
have been to bid it farewell. Although
Jonty Driver was forced to leave and Isobel Dixon left through choice, the
strength of their memories was equally strong and came alive in their readings. Their tales of family, the karoo and life in
South Africa gave a vivid and touching picture of a wide open, beautiful
country and a lifestyle slowly slipping into history.
Jonty Driver is on stage again at the Hythe Festival on 11 July (St
Michael’s Church, 3.00 pm) reading from his two new books of poetry, ‘Before’
and ‘Still Farther’, currently in preparation.
Definitely a date for your diary.
Linda McCarthy
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