Based in Herefordshire for nearly 50 years, Glenn Storhaug, through Five Seasons Press, has been creating affordable poetry books and collectible editions featuring an impressive range of poets, including Frances Horovitz, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Stevenson and Wendell Berry. This intimate portrait by Hereford-based filmmakers, Catcher Media (makers of Chewing The Cud and Stories From the Hop Yards ) celebrates Glenn’s work as he talks about the poets he has collaborated with and the books he has created.
The film has been very well-received in public screenings at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, Hereford and Hay Winter festival (which sold out). Rick Goldsmith, the film’s director, introduced the film and once it finished its 52 minute running time, there were 15-20 min entertaining Q&As with Glenn which proved very popular. Funded by the Beaumont Trust and The Elmley Foundation.
In the photo (above) Rick and Glenn at the lively Q&A. The film had to be moved from its initial venue of 60 seats to a larger venue of 85 seats, where it sold out not once, not twice but three times. The audience consisted of locals as well as those who came from Birmingham, Tel Aviv and Armenia.
The best thing I saw at the Ledbury Poetry Festival this year was the short film ‘Printing Poetry Aloud’ produced by Catcher Media, featuring the work of Glenn Storhaug (Five Seasons Press). The film somehow managed to conjure an enchanted atmosphere through: the choice of setting (Glenn’s book-lined den); some highly skilled lighting and editing; and, of course Glenn’s carefully curated performance. I was completely drawn in, as was the rest of the audience. The appreciation for one of Herefordshire’s unsung talents could be felt in this beautiful (short) film.
Shirley Garner, poet
The above photo is from the sold-out screening at The Courtyard in Hereford.
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed your film, and the whole evening was so lovely. I was brought up short by the depth and inter-connectedness of rural Hereford, as I don’t yet know it here well! Perhaps your film should be compulsory viewing for all newcomers.
Sean Swallow, poet
What a lovely film. I loved the way it was structured, the “abstract” visuals, the soundtrack, Kate’s reading…I could go on!
Simon Scott, long-serving Borderlines Film Festival board member
I found the whole film very moving. For me, it had a dreamlike quality that paradoxically packed a punch. Glenn’s beautifully conveyed joy in his work shone through as did his genuine enthusiasm for the writings of others and the thrill he gets from finding never-endingly inventive ways to present those writings. The whole film just flowed with enchantment and I didn’t want it to end. I also totally loved the display and readings of Anne and Frances’ poems, which sent me off into a deep swoon. It was altogether magnificent!
Geraldine Monk, poet and interviewee.
Grace and I watched your marvellous ‘Printing Poetry Aloud’ film last night, and were quite delighted by it. Like Geraldine, I was sorry to see it end. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was structured as a history of the press, very movingly narrated by Glenn, with a fine emphasis on the visual expression of poetry’s music(s) and on the extraordinary variety of all the press’s productions. I loved your measured, and still passionate, delivery, Glenn, and I felt that the editing and presentation, while almost invisible, were truly expert and absolutely convincing. I hope the film finds its way to a wider and wider audience (…) Well done, both of you. This is as good (and surprising) as I could ever have imagined for a story I knew well and have lived with you, Glenn, for the better part of my life, and with you, Rick, more recently. Thank you both.
Paul Marchant, poet and interviewee.
I was completely entranced by Glenn’s performance but the whole setting of the film was so personal and sympathetic. It was a joy to watch but also to get an insight into what Herefordshire must have been like before we arrived. Thank you! Richard Tyler, audience member
Hay Festival photographs courtesy of Adam Tatton-Reid. NB: Subtitled version coming very soon.
