A poetic tribute to a Shropshire farming community

Dr Julie Leoni is proud to be introducing ‘Farmotherlands’ at The Holroyd Community Theatre, Oswestry, on April 2.

Having already won a number of awards including The Bournemouth Poetry Prize, the collection is Julie’s debut anthology.

Farmotherlands draws on Julie’s memories of time on her family’s farms and days spent wandering the tracks and fields of the Welsh Marches and beyond.

Her poems explore love, loss, the passing of time and the seasons of life, connecting our own impermanence with the larger cycles of nature and challenging us all to rediscover our connection to the great outdoors and to the farming world.

“The other stuff that I write tends to be creative non-fiction, and I’ve always felt comfortable with that,” said Julie. “But in the second year of my Creative Writing MA I decided to go out of my comfort zone.

“For my final assignment I had to write a collection of poems, and I didn’t know what to focus on. Then my uncle, who was the owner of the family farm, sadly died.

“From reflecting on holidays at the family farm as kids, it kind of just flowed. I drew on memories of my mum, sister, aunt, uncle and cousins and farming as it was then. I also drew on what I’ve observed while walking around the farmland that we’re so lucky to have in Shropshire.”

In launching Farmotherlands, Julie wanted an event with a difference that would represent farming and have a strong community feel. She has been delighted to have the support of local Oswestry book retailer, Booka Bookshop.

“Booka is one of those places that we’re so lucky to have locally,” said Julie. “They get big names speaking, and it’s a wonderful, proper bookshop that you can still walk in and say ‘I want a book that makes me feel like this’ and they’ll pull it off the shelf for you. I’m really pleased to be launching with them.”

Oswestry’s Holroyd Community Theatre will serve as the ideal launch location, and the perfect accompanying guests will also be joining the ranks.

“Most other book launches are just one person reading and signing,” said Julie. “I’m not personally a farmer by trade – my cousins are, not me – so I’d feel a bit of a fraud just sitting there talking about farming by myself when it’s not actually me that gets my hands in the soil.

“So Ian and Stef from Treflach Farm, Casha and Barbara from Babbinswood Farm and Tom Adams, known locally as Tom the Apple Man, are going to be on the stage with me.

“I’ll read some poems and then I’ll ask them to choose poems that they, as farmers, connect with and we’ll have a conversation about why. We’ll also be talking about permaculture, regenerative and organic farming, soil and human health, local food production and the need for diversification.

“On top of this, we've also got musicians coming in the form of one of the country’s leading Cajun/Appalachian acts, Vera Van Heeringen and Jock Tydesley. They’re going to play during the book signing.

“The farms create produce and also run courses, so they will each have a stand to let all those who come along find out about these and everything else the farms do. I want it to be a real community event. I hope it’s a celebration and a conversation.”

Fury over the current government’s changes to inheritance tax law have seen the conversation about farming brought to a boiling point. Has this latest and scandalous development influenced Julie to get her poetry out there now?

“Even before that happened, I’ve spent so many years sitting at tables listening to my cousins talk about how little they get paid for milk, and how supermarkets have them in a stranglehold, etc,” said Julie. “I’m not the one that’s had to deal with all that, but I’ve been on the periphery and have heard the conversations.

“The taxing is just another one of those ways where the people in office don’t really understand what it’s like to get up every day to produce food that then is often not valued in the way it should be.

“We’re getting cheap imports from goodness knows where, from countries who do goodness knows what to the animals and produce.

“We talk about fuel security, but we also need to think about food security and local farms are part of the solution.

“The pressure on farmers is immense, and we need to do what we can do locally to support and connect with our farmers so that we can have healthy, ethical, fresh food, which isn’t genetically engineered, pumped with chemicals or flown halfway around the world to reach us.

“I hope Farmotherlands can be a part of that conversation, and will inspire people to think about farmers and how they can help them in the vital work they do.”

Farmotherlands – An Evening of Poetry, Community, Farming, Nature and Music, will be held at The Holroyd Community Theatre, Oswestry on April 2.

Tickets including a signed copy of the book cost £18 and can be booked at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/farmotherlands-book-launch-an-evening-with-julie-leoni-friends-tickets-1244111273309 or purchased from Booka Bookshop, Oswestry.

If you can’t make the launch, books can also be bought directly from Julie at www.julieleoni.com/product/farmotherlands/