Poetry to Light Up dark days

Seaford poet, Peter Martin, dubbed by one newspaper as ‘Poet of the South Downs’, is lucky that Lockdown has not affected his writing. A former teacher and environmental educator with RSPB and WWF-UK, Peter lived for many years with his wife in the Surrey Hills ‘Area of Outstanding Beauty’ which inspired his first book Seasons Regained published in 2005.

Since moving to Seaford in 2006 he has published four more books in the ‘Poetry of the Sussex Downs and Coast series, inspired by the beautiful landscapes, and the social and natural histories a short distance from home. Since his fourth volume was published in 2019, and during Lockdown he has written 18 new poems, some referring directly to the pandemic, but all showing how people can find solace and inspiration in the constancy of the natural world. One of these, All Peter’s books are beautifully illustrated by Sussex artists – Ghost Music by the late H.H Evans; Kindred Spaces by Sarah Gregson; Story Lines by Charlotte Matthews and Flight Feathers by Robert Greenhalf. Robert, based in Rye is one of the UK’s leading wildlife artists.

Over the years, Peter has collaborated with various musicians, including the Seaford-based Corelli Ensemble who commissioned a new piece of music based on three of Peter’s poems. This was premiered as part of Seaford Head School’s project, Seaford in Harmony, and later at a memorial concert for Lord Denis Healey. He has also performed many times, often at Seaford’s Crypt Gallery, with Joy Lewis and Derrick Hughes, the talented Seaford-based players of a wide range of traditional instruments.

In November 2019 Peter took part in a concert at Florence House to raise funds for the Seaford Youth Counselling Project. A packed house enjoyed performances by Dame Felicity Lott, the internationally renowned opera singer, and Maeve Jenkinson, Director of the Corelli Ensemble, interspersed with a selection of poems read by Peter.

In 2019 the composer Nathan James asked Peter if he would read his poem The Long Man during the premier of his new cantata On Windover Hill. This took place in early 2020 in the magnificent Boxgrove Priory in West Sussex, with two choirs and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

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‘I am grateful to my wife for her critical first reading of my poems, editing the manuscript and also participating in poetry readings’, says Peter, also to my good friend Tom Cunliffe of Seaford who designed the last four books and who sadly passed away suddenly in 2020. He is very much missed’.

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Photos from top: Peter and his wife, Patricia at the launch of Kindred Spaces; Peter performing at LitFest at the Crypt with Joy and Derrick.