Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation
 | |
| Legal status | Registered charity |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | London |
| Location | |
Chief Executive | Graham Henderson |
| Website |
www |
The Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation is a registered charity[1] in the United Kingdom. It was set up to take advantage of the gift, in a legacy, of the property at 8 Royal College Street in the London Borough of Camden, the house occupied by the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine[2][3] when they lived in London in 1873.
The Foundation intends to create a "poetry house" at 8 Royal College Street.[3] It also seeks to promote Anglo-French cultural exchange, including live events, artists’ residencies and educational programmes aimed at giving opportunities to young people in both France and the UK.[2]
Governance
The Foundation is managed by a Board of English-speaking and French-speaking trustees, chaired by David Ure.[4]
History
The Foundation was initiated by Poet in the City, which inherited a campaign to create an Anglo-French cultural centre at Rimbaud and Verlaine's former home.[5] The campaign to save the house was run over many years by Gerry Harrison,[6] a Camden councillor, during the process of which many celebrities have rallied to the cause, including the actor Simon Callow,[7] the writers Julian Barnes,[6] Lisa Appignanesi[6] and Tracy Chevalier and the rock star Patti Smith. In 2007 the house was bought and fully restored by a new owner who has agreed to give the house for use as an Anglo-French cultural centre. Poet in the City, and now the Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation, with the support of the Fondation D'Enterprise L-A Finances pour la Poésie in Paris and the law firm Herbert Smith, are seeking to raise money for a maintenance fund, allowing for the creation of a "poetry house" at 8 Royal College Street.
Graham Henderson
The Foundation's chief executive (since April 2014) is Graham Henderson[8] who was previously chief executive of Poet in the City.[9] A qualified solicitor,[10] who worked as a commercial litigation lawyer at Clifford Chance and Freshfields,[11] his career has spanned both the City of London and the arts. From 2000 to 2001 he was responsible for creating and marketing specialist dance and music activity holidays for Dance Holidays Ltd and WOMAD. In 2003 he produced Coach of Black Water, an exhibition of Cuban art photographs, which took place at the Menier Gallery in Southwark. In 2004 he launched The Company of Adventurers Ltd in an attempt to raise funding for independent arts and cultural documentary films. In 2005 he was responsible for arranging the translation and publication of Kindred Spirits, a collected edition of poems by the great Cuban poet Regino E Boti, known as "the poet of Guantanamo", which was published by Mango Publications.[12] In 2010 he was elected as a member of the Culture Forum,[13] consisting of representatives from twenty six leading arts organisations, and supported by Arts & Business and the National Campaign for the Arts.
Events
Events organised by the Foundation include:
- "The Disappearing Poet", an event at Kings Place in October 2014 that explored the poetry of Rimbaud (who gave up writing poetry and disappeared in 1879) and the British poet Rosemary Tonks, regarded as one of the leading poets of the time, who similarly disappeared in 1979, severing all connection with the literary world, and spending the rest of her life living as a near recluse in Bournemouth.[14][15][16]
Notes and references
- ↑ "Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation". Open Charities. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014. Registered charity number 1157063
- 1 2 "About Us". Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- 1 2 "Poetry house". Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ↑ "Corporate governance". Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ↑ "3AM Magazine – Chasing Rimbaud". Retrieved January 2011. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - 1 2 3 Patterson, Christina (8 February 2006). "Verlaine and Rimbaud: Poets from hell". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ↑ Callow, Simon (28 January 2006). "The house at poet's corner". The Times. London. Retrieved January 2011. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Rimbaud and Verlaine embark on a journey". Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation. 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ↑ "Graham Henderson leaves Poet in the City". Arts Professional. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ↑ Gardner, Anthony (14 November 2012). "Interview with Graham Henderson". Europe in the UK. European Commission Representation in the United Kingdom/European Parliament Information Office in the United Kingdom. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ↑ Hunt, Jeremy (17 September 2013). "Graham Henderson (en)". The Cornelius Foundation. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ↑ Henderson, Graham (Summer 2005). "Poet of Guantanamo". Cuba Si.
- ↑ "Arts & Business – Forum for Arts, Culture & Heritage representatives". Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ↑ Lenarduzzi, Thea (31 October 2014). "Did Rimbaud and Tonks really 'disappear'?". Times Literary Supplement TLS Blog. London. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ↑ "The Disappearing Poet". Past events. October 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ↑ Hatts, Leigh (31 October 2014). "Rosemary Tonks 'not a recluse' claims Neil Astley". Bournemouth's Who Was Who. Retrieved 20 November 2014.