In
my last blog, I wrote about being commissioned to write 25 poems to accompany an amazing exhibition of modern religious art, by world-famous artists, that was displayed in Guildford in the spring of 2026. I finished by writing that it was possible that hundreds, or even thousands of people might visit the art exhibition in St Mary’s during Lent this year. Well, that turned out to be a rather modest estimate! Over the four weeks of the exhibition, over four thousand people visited the exhibition and the universal reaction was not just approval, but huge enthusiasm for the paintings and the poems that accompanied them.
Added to that, the book of the paintings and poems that we produced, sold at the rate of about a hundred each week, with the final book being pounced on just as the exhibition came to a close on Easter Day. Fortunately, I myself had one box of copies which I have started selling since then, but there are not many of those left now and as people are still ordering them, we’re considering ordering a reprint in the next few weeks.
On a personal note, I found the whole experience joyful and inspiring. It was a huge privilege to be invited to write the poems, to display them alongside the art, to share them at readings and to put them together into a book with reproductions of the pictures. I spent many happy hours down at the exhibition and was drawn ever more deeply into the artworks.
I was asked to give a reading of the poems during the exhibition and I invited the wonderful ‘cellist, Annelies Terry, to accompany me. Our poetry and music dove-tailed beautifully and although we had not tim
ed it beforehand, the concert drew to a peaceful close exactly on the hour. The tickets for the event ran out several times, and although further allocations were arranged, there were still people who did not manage to get tickets. Unfortunately, some of these were good friends of mine and I only discovered afterwards that they had not been able to attend. It was lovely performing to a church full to bursting, and even lovelier that during that hour there was not a single cough, shuffle or rustle.
To my delight, the composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange was commissioned to write a motet using one of my poems (‘Mothered’, based on the painting ‘Dalit Madonna’ by the Indian artist, Jyoti Sahi) and the world première of this was on Palm Sunday evening. Again, far, far more people than expected turned up and as there were only 100 chairs in the church, the final two members of the audience had to be accommodated on wooden seats.
As a poet, this has been one of the happiest months of my life. Everyone has been so positive and generous in their reactions. It was such a delight to be told by so many people that the poems helped them to understand and appreciate the art more than they would otherwise have been able to do. More readings are planned, though as the paintings have now returned home to the Methodist Church, the readings will be accompanied by the excellent slides of the art.
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