Edinburgh Art Festival 2014: Duffy, Tennyson and Hughes showcased in Poetry for the Palace

• David Pollock
• 4 August 2014

This article is from 2014.

credit: Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

The exhibition aims to provide a more visual angle to the work of the Poets Laureate

Subtitled ‘Poets Laureate From Dryden to Duffy’, this exhibition seeks, says curator Deborah Clarke, to be ‘a unique mix of words, art, and voices relating to the Poets Laureate, including original manuscripts and rare editions, many personally inscribed, handwritten or illustrated by the poets themselves.’ Among the works and artefacts she says are most significant within those on display will be a photograph of Alfred Tennyson dating back to 1865, taken by his Isle of Wight neighbour Julia Margaret Cameron, which was acquired by Queen Victoria; and a manuscript draft of Ted Hughes’ poem ‘The Dream of the Lion’, written to mark the Queen Mother’s 85th birthday in 1985.

Also on display will be a work by the artist Stephen Raw celebrating the current Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. ‘Stephen has collaborated with Carol Ann for a number of years on many of her public commissions,’ says Clarke. ‘His love of language is fundamental to all his work and his aim is ‘to make language visible’. He takes lines or words or whole poems, turns his back on the normal typography, on the usual conventions of line lengths and line breaks and – concentrating on particular words and emphasising sentences – gives a visual form to Duffy's poems. Her poems will be shown in many different mediums, from ceramic to watercolour on paper.’

Queen’s Gallery, 556 5100 until Sun 2 Nov, £6.50/£5.90, under 17s £3.25, under 5s free.