Poems of Home and Exile, Mayfield Festival

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