There is a yearly competition to find the best poet, singer or storyteller and to earn the title of the Bard of Bath. The Bard of Bath title, revived in 1996, resurrects an Iron-Age Celtic Druid tradition where Bards were poets, musicians and history-keepers. All of them held high status and a place in mystical/religious circles. The title of Bard of Bath is held for a year, awarded to the winning poet/singer/storyteller. They get a robe that is blue and the Bard has a special chair called the “Bardic Chair.”
The 2010 Competition winner and newest Bard is Jennifer Walter, she is the 15th Bard. Jennifer graduated last summer with a first-class degree from the Bath Spa University’s BA Creative Writing course. She succeeds another Bath Spa student, Jack Dean, in this honorary role to promote the Bardic tradition through talks and performances. Along with Jennifer’s new robe and beautifully carved chair to keep for her year in office, she will organise poetry events for the local community. Last year she ran the ‘Poetry in Pubs’ event at the Bath Literature Festival. Jennifer has become the youngest woman owner of the title of “Bard of Bath” at the age of 21.
Last years winner Jack Dean is the youngest title holder, winning his Bardic title at the age of 20. One of Jennifer’s priorities is to hold a bard reunion night, bringing together as many post-holders as possible for a night of poetry. Lucy English, who teaches the Performance Poetry module at Bath Spa University and is a performance poet herself, commented: “It’s great that our students have won this prestigious appointment for two years running. Jennifer and Jack are both very enthusiastic and gained a lot from their poetry studies.”
As a city of culture benefits many Bath accommodation businesses as literary events bring people to the area helping to support Bath bed and breakfast’s and hotels.
Jennifer has said that she plans to speak at a lot of events and just try and get spoken word out into the general public and to make the most of her role, as the spoken word representative of Bath.
