Poetry Parnassus

As the 2012 Olympic Games come ever closer to reaching London, Poetry Parnassus aims to stage the largest poetry festival ever hosted in the UK. Poets and spoken word artists from every country represented in the Olympic Games will come to the Southbank Centre this week to showcase their work in their own launguage, which is 204 countries! This is sure to be one helluva a week. Over the course of six days, you can expect to see the likes of humorous Huddersfield poet and the Southbank's artist in residence, Simon Armitage, Jo Shapcott and Seamus Heaney. Plus Poems on the Underground, Free the Word and the Poetry Takeaway, which is the 'world's first purpose-built mobile poetry emporium', serving up 10-minute helpings of made-to-order poems.