Open Cambridge - Poetry Trail

A wooden board stands in a garden with greenery and flowers, displaying a written poem about a skeleton hugging bluebells and the nature of love.
Date 06/09/2024 at 10.00 - 15/09/2024 at 16.00 Where Wolfson College Gardens

A self-guided trail around the Wolfson College gardens featuring extracts of poetry written by Wolfson staff and students from our latest WolfWords poetry anthology "a little branch".

A wooden board stands in a garden with greenery and flowers, displaying a written poem about a skeleton hugging bluebells and the nature of love.

Overview

Explore the Wolfson College grounds which feature a selection of poems written by Wolfson staff and students. The poems have been selected from Wolfson's latest WolfWods poetry anthology "a little branch".

The full anthology is available to read online. Physical copies are available from the Porters’ Lodge. 

 

Poet Biographies

Ruoshui Zhang

Ruoshui Zhang is a PhD candidate working on the intersection of modernist poetry and modern German-French philosophy. His daily routine is to wake up, make a lemon tea, and write a poem on the bench outside the Club Room.

Connor Johnston

Connor Johnston is currently completing a master’s degree in English Studies. During his undergraduate degree, he was awarded the Lord Alfred Douglas Prize and the Dart prize, and his work has been published by Renard Press and 'Southward'. Connor is an avid lover of form and rhyme, and like his favourite poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, believes that all poetry should be read aloud.

Tom Williamson

Tom Williamson is a postgraduate scientist and classical musician. Although writing poetry is a rare occurrence for him, he enjoys composing choral music and finding texts to set to music.

Philip De Luca

Philip De Luca has been a gardener at Wolfson College for 23 years. He has experienced every wild moment the gardens have been through, using all his five senses, working through every season. Philip has brought his areas of the gardens to a place that all people and wildlife can live, work, visit and enjoy through all these years.

Julia Da Costa

Julia Da Costa is an undergraduate studying Veterinary Medicine. Before joining Wolfson, she completed a BA in Fine Art. In 2022, Julia’s work was shown as part of the Tate Collective’s “Cyborg Futures” display.

Charis Horsley

Charis Horsley is an MPhil English Studies student, working on the afterlife and afterlife landscapes, with a particular focus on Dante’s Commedia. She has a strong poetic interest, including ekphrastic poetry and the links between visual representation and poetry.

Katie Cavanaugh

Katie Cavanaugh is a second-year postgraduate student pursuing a MSt in Creative Writing. Though her dissertation is an original screenplay, poetry has always had her heart. She plays for Wolfson’s joint soccer – sorry, football – team with Darwin and St. Edmund’s and stays involved in the Wolfson College Boat Club.

Garima Lekhwani

Garima Lekhwani is a postgraduate student pursuing an MPhil in Public Policy. She grew up in India where she worked in the civil services before moving to Cambridge. She has been writing poetry from a young age and also enjoys spoken-word poetry.

 

Details

Maps can be collected from the Porters' Lodge or viewed online.

The trail is free to follow and there is no booking required. 

Children are most certainly welcome and will have plenty of space to explore - but please ensure they are accompanied at all times. Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed on the poetry trail. 

 

Access

This event will take place in our gardens which have fully step-free access and there is an accessible toilet located in our main building.

 

Open Cambridge

This event is taking place as part of Open Cambridge 2024, a showcase of extraordinary spaces, places and people, taking place from the 6 - 13 September.

Check out the Open Cambridge website for the full programme of events.