The All England Club has appointed its first official poet to capture all the emotions of this year’s Wimbledon tennis championships in verse.
By Sam Smith
The All England Club has appointed its first official poet to capture all the emotions of this year’s Wimbledon tennis championships in verse.
Matt Harvey will have the enviable task of writing daily poems on the tournament as well as giving impromptu performances to fans queuing to enter the famous grounds.
A lifelong tennis fan, Mr Harvey will write one poem a day on all things Wimbledon, from the intense emotion of the on-court action to the more serene strawberries and cream.
“Quite simply I’m delighted, with a little bit of healthy anxiety thrown in. It’s an honour, and I’m acutely conscious it’s the only time I’ll come first in anything at Wimbledon, unless you count the queue for strawberries,” said Mr Harvey.
His appointment was made in conjunction with The Poetry Trust which champions poetry in the UK.
Naomi Jaffa, Director of the Trust, said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled and excited – for Matt, who’s a poet we’re so proud to champion, and for the tennis-loving millions around the world who’ll be surprised and delighted by some truly ace poems.”
The novel idea was proposed by Honor Godfrey, Curator of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
“We are always examining different ways of interpreting The Championships and this year the Club agreed that having an official Championships Poet would provide a novel and interesting way of doing this.
“We are looking forward to working with Matt and the Poetry Trust and it will be fascinating to see both Matt’s take on what we see year-in year-out, and indeed the public’s reaction to the poems,” she said.
Mr Harvey has already written his first poem entitled Grandest of Slams which can be read – along with all his future poems and podcasts – on the Wimbledon and Poetry Trust’s websites.
