Box Office 0870 343 1001 www.sundaytimes ... - Blackwell's

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Jeremy Paxman,
Philip Pullman
Off by Heart
843
2.00pm – 3.30pm (please arrive by 1.30pm) /
Sheldonian Theatre , Broad Street /
£5.00 (adults) £2.50 (children)
The Sheldonian Theatre plays host to the final of Off
By Heart, the BBC’s new poetry reciting competition.
In schools up and down the country thousands of
7- to 11-year-olds have been busy learning and
performing poems, from William Wordsworth’s
Daffodils to Edward Lear’s Owl and the Pussycat
reworked as a beat-box routine.
Now the 12 best, chosen from over 1,000 entrants,
will compete in a grand final compered by Jeremy
Paxman. Finalists will recite a selection of poems
in front of the Sheldonian audience, television
cameras and most importantly a panel of expert
judges (including the author Philip Pullman), who
will choose an Off By Heart champion. This promises
to be an unmissable event – warm, funny and
compelling, it should have universal appeal.
In May BBC 2 will air a 90-minute documentary,
made by independent production company Silver
River, following the 12 finalists as they prepare for
and compete in the final. An anthology of all the
poems recited by the finalists, as well as other
favourites to learn by heart, will be published to
coincide with the competition and documentary.
SUNDAY APRIL 2009
For your copy of the programme for
Young People’s and Children’s Events
contact: 01865 286 074
Daisy Goodwin, film-maker, author
and creator of Off by Heart
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