Bath will be the first stop on award-winning British playwright and poet Peter Oswald’s 150-mile fasting pilgrimage. He’s planning to walk over thirteen days from Bristol to the Houses of Parliament.
His journey, he says – from March 18 to March 30 – is to raise awareness of the ongoing struggle faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank and raise funds to support Palestinian children and schools.
The former resident playwright at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and South Bank Award recipient, Peter has an impressive background in playwriting, poetry and setting up theatre companies across continents. “While leading this walk, I will be calling to the soul of Britain through the soles of my feet,” said Oswald who will use the walk to raise funds for The Hands Up Project which supports children in Palestine.
On March 18th, at 7.30 pm, poets will gather at Berdoulat in St. Margaret’s Buildings to welcome him off the first leg of his Pilgrimage for Palestine, a hunger march from Bristol to London raising funds for the Hands Up Project. The project connects children worldwide with young people in Palestine through poetry, drama, art and storytelling. The pilgrimage is to raise awareness of the situation in Palestine and to push back against Islamophobia in Britain.
In the evening, the two books of poetry published by the Hands Up Project will be on sale from Toppings Booksellers, children via live link from Gaza will read their own poems, alongside Peter and Alice Oswald. The Bristol-based artist Dizraeli and the Bath-based spoken word poet Manganaro will also both perform.
He will be following the fasting observations of Muslims during the Month of Ramadan during the walk to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza currently facing food shortages and the global Muslim Community. “Though there is a fragile ceasefire in Palestine, the persecution of the Palestinian people continues.
“Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA from Gaza is a clear signal that it will resist efforts to rebuild the region. Injustice flourishes when the world looks away, and as long as we remain unaware, peace remains elusive,” he added
The route will follow the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath to Reading before continuing through quieter roads into central London. Supporters and well-wishers are encouraged to walk alongside Oswald at any stage, and poetry readings, public discussions, and solidarity events are planned along the way. His wife, Alice Oswald, former Oxford Professor of Poetry and BBC Radio 4 Poet-in-Residence, will join him for part of the journey.
The pilgrimage is organised by the Bristol Palestine Alliance and the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bournemouth, raising funds for the Hands Up Project (www.handsupproject.org), which connects Palestinian schoolchildren with teachers and students worldwide through drama and storytelling.
