Jemima Foxtrot

Devizes Arts Festival

Though still only in her twenties, Jemima Foxtrot has written and performed her poetry for the BBC, Tate Britain and the Barbican and has made several appearances at the Latitude Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Devizes Arts Festival was therefore delighted to welcome her last Sunday in the beautiful surroundings of the art gallery at Devizes Books.

Jemima’s poetry was interspersed with snatches of folk song in a surprisingly powerful and confident voice for someone so delicate. Singing unaccompanied, she occasionally incorporated a loop pedal to over-record her own words, so that her one voice became a small choir. Her descriptions of the everyday world shone a light into little corners of the commonplace; she clearly takes delight in spotting hidden treasures all around her, such as small children at the seaside “..squealing in ripples, like piglets..” and office colleagues who “..reacted in various shades of beige..” Signed copies of her book All Damn Day are available from Devizes Books.

Clair Figes