First Official ‘Poet On The Platform’ for First Great Western

Poet Sally Crabtree -  “the pink wigged pocket Venus from Cornwall*” - who has enthralled audiences this year, including those at Venice Biennale, has been appointed the first official ‘Poet on the Platform’ by First Great Western. 

Between August 14-17 she will undertake a tour of two performances a day at two stations a day, serenading customers at Reading, Oxford, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Exeter St Davids, Barnstaple, Paignton and Plymouth.
 
Elaine Wilde, First Great Western’s Community Affairs and Events Manager, says:  “This is an interesting idea that makes poetry more accessible across a large geographic area.  It’s an exciting project which we think is fun and inspiring. Sally is an inspirational performer, and we are pleased to be able to offer her a ‘platform’ to a wider audience!  Train travel has always inspired creativity and Sally’s work will bring an intriguing new element to our stations on her tour.”  

Sally has worked in libraries and schools around the UK, is committed to making poetry vibrant and accessible and taking it into unexpected places, from festivals and cafes to the streets of towns and cities.  

Explaining the attraction of performing at stations Sally says: “To be the first official Poet on the Platform is a dream come true.  Like many writers and poets before me, famously WH Auden, I am inspired by the reasons for our rail journeys - the human connections and stories involved. We take the train for family visits, lovers meetings or farewells, or interviews for work – journeys that can change the course of our lives. Train stations are fascinating places that provide endless inspiration, so I’m thrilled that First Great Western has given me this opportunity to bring poetry onto the platform this summer. ”  

Sally will set up her ‘Poetree’ on the station platforms: a copper tree decorated with many objects, inviting any passengers who wish to do so to choose one, which will be the source of inspiration for a poem or song which she will serenade them with.  Mock train tickets inscribed with poems will also be given away to rail passengers and station staff.  

(*Max Blinkhorn reviewing Sally’s Edinburgh festival performance)   

Sally Crabtree has been a full time poet and singer/songwriter since 1990 and lives in Cornwall with her partner Tom and two children: Daisy and Milo.  Her latest poetry collection: Love Café reflects the range of her experience as a woman and artist, with its direct vibrant poems charting her relationships with her children, parents, partner, her own creativity and nature.  

At the age of 14 Sally won the Daily Mirror USSR Scholarship to train in Russia as a gymnast, and became the youngest member of the GB Women’s team competing around the world.  

She has worked as a presenter on the ‘Art Channel’, written best selling children’s books and performed at Literature Festivals and events around the UK.    In addition Sally has performed at the V &A and Poetry Café in London, at Shakespeare & Co in Paris, and internationally including at the Venice Biennale and Genoa Poetry Festivals, and recently captivated audiences in street performances on tour in Mexico. Sally has been involved in organising children’s events and literature festivals in Cornwall, and worked in libraries and schools around the UK.      

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