Victoria Field

Victoria is a writer, poetry therapist and researcher living in Canterbury, Kent.

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Her most recent poetry collection is 'A Speech of Birds' (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2020) which includes poems inspired by the Blean, England's largest area of Ancient Woodland, north of Canterbury. 'The Lost Boys' (Waterloo Press, 2014) won the Holyer and GofPrize for Poetry and Drama. She was writer-in-residence in Truro Cathedral and continues to be inspired by sacred spaces.

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Together with Eduard Heyning, she has participated in performances of original music and poetry in many settings, including St Martins, St Stephens and St Peters churches in Canterbury, St Johns in Notting Hill and the Crypt in Rochester Cathedral.

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Her play, 'Benson', based on the life of Archbishop Edward Benson had script-in-hand performances in Truro Cathedral Chapter House and the Marlowe Theatre, and explores how love and power manifest in institutions and families.

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She has a long-standing interest in pilgrimage. Her memoir 'Baggage: A Book of Leavings' (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2016) is an account of marriage, mid-life muddle and walking to Santiago de Compostela.

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Her doctoral studies at Canterbury Christ Church University are on 'The Pilgrim-Writer' and narratives of transformation and pilgrimage.

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She works in many community and educational settings using literature to promote healing and wellbeing and has a special interest in public libraries and people living with, or affected by, dementia. She is considered a pioneer in this work and has presented and published widely.

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On the Way of St Martin, she will be writing new poems, some of which will form part of 'O Roma Nobilis', the performance she and Eduard Heyning are devising for the September 2022 Pilgrim Festival. She is excited to be working alongside visual artists.

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victoria@thepoetrypractice.co.uk - www.thepoetrypractice.co.uk

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