‘Oh Manchester, so much to answer for …’

All good things must come to an end …

It’s Monday 19th October, the final day of the week-long Faber New Poets tour, and it’s the city of Manchester that has the honour of hosting the final event, where they’re joined by Emma Jones. The order is 2-1-3-4-Jones, and then they’re back in the van, passing the 1,000 mile mark as they make an emotional return to London.

Day 8: Manchester from FaberBooks on Vimeo.

The Faber New Poets Video Tour Diaries: written by Fiona Benson, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Heather Phillipson and Jack Underwood; produced by Heather Phillipson.

There’ll be four more Faber New Poets – Joe Dunthorne, Annie Katchinska, Sam Riviere and Tom Warner – published in May 2010.

It’s Sunday 18th October, the penultimate day of the Faber New Poets tour. The foursome have visited Ted Hughes’s house and said goodbye to the film crew. Two days to go, and two festivals to appear at, starting tonight at Ilkley.

On the way there’s time to visit the atmospheric, but cold, moors – a landscape to seek inspiration and test orienteering skills.

The tour so far:

Monday: Norwich

Tuesday: Cambridge

Wednesday: Oxford

Thursday: Hull

Friday: Durham

Saturday: Lumb Bank

Up next: Manchester, the final day!

Saturday 17th October and it’s a day off for our four poets. They head to Ilkley but en route pay a visit to Ted Hughes’s former home in Lumb Bank, a picturesque cottage high on a daleside, overlooking a wooded valley. With them still are the BBC’s camera crew. It’s the final day of filming and each poet has a stint to film.

Only two more stops now on the week-long Faber New Poets tour.

The tour so far:

Monday: Norwich

Tuesday: Cambridge

Wednesday: Oxford

Thursday: Hull

Friday: Durham

Next stop: Ilkley

It’s Friday 16th October – day five of the Faber New Poets tour. Before setting off for the evening’s appearance in Durham, our four poets must first ready themselves for the BBC’s Culture Show cameras. A bout of morning drinking helps steady the nerves and keep out the wind. Then it’s off to Durham, via the Humber bridge and freshly-made paninis.

It’s 4-3-2-1 and lights-camera-action at a successful New Writing North event.

The tour so far:

Monday: Norwich

Tuesday: Cambridge

Wednesday: Oxford

Thursday: Hull

Next stop: Ilkley

It’s Wednesday 14th October, day three of the Faber New Poets tour and the poets arrive in Oxford, where they spend the day getting ready for the evening’s performance at St Edmund Hall.

They’re to be joined by Bernard O’Donoghue – the Bill Clinton of poetry – and there’s a first sighting (the first of many subsequently) of ‘Faberman’ …

Monday was Norwich; Tuesday was Cambridge; Thursday is Hell, sorry, Hull …

It’s Tuesday 13th October 2009 – day two of the week-long tour, and the Faber New Poets – Fiona Benson, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Heather Phillipson and Jack Underwood – say goodbye to Norwich and head for Cambridge.

Phillipson is sceptical; Martinez de las Rivas has long eye-lashes; Benson knows what’s going on; Hollis is charming …

Cambridge is great. Each of us is almost killed by a bicycle at least once. They are like Hell’s Angels, only silent and deadly …

We are at the bottom of the intelligence food chain …

The Faber New Poets video diary continues:

Yesterday: Norwich. Tomorrow: Oxford.

Funded by Arts Council England, Faber New Poets set out with the aim to identify and support emerging talents at an early stage in their careers. As Faber Poetry Editor Matthew Hollis puts it, it’s a traditional, three-pronged publishing package, comprising:

1. Mentorship
2. A Bursary
3. First publication in pamphlet form

The Tour Begins

The first four Faber New Poets are Fiona Benson, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Heather Phillipson and Jack Underwood (with another four being published in May).

For publication and to launch the scheme back in October last year, the four poets – with Faber Editor, chauffeur and part-time pizza chef Hollis at the wheel of their blue minibus – embarked on a UK tour: 1000-plus miles taking in Norwich, Cambridge, Oxford, then north to Hull, Durham, Lumb Bank, Ilkley and across to Manchester, armed with four Flip cameras to document life on the road.

What Goes On Tour Stays On Tour

Except when everyone’s armed with digital cameras … So here, in eight instalments for seven days, we see the poets as they visit the hillside cottage of Ted Hughes and the hometown of Philip Larkin, trespass on university lawns, perform at sold-out events, appear in a BBC ‘Culture Show’ film, bond over beer and Italian food, get lost on the Moors and master rock-star poses.

Day One: Norwich (12th October 2009)

Day One of the Faber New Poets tour sees the poets arriving in Norwich, ‘capital of mutants and mustard’. They’re to be joined by George Szirtes for their evening event at Norwich’s Writers’ Centre & Cafe.

Next stop: Cambridge.