Cumbrian creatives are set to unveil new work inspired by the life of Cockermouth’s most famous daughter Dorothy Wordsworth to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth.
Kirkgate Youth Theatre’s budding actors, Eden Poets, filmmaker John Hamlett and photographer Keith Snell have devised special presentations reflecting Dorothy’s love of nature, her influence on her brother, William – and her own creative writing as a poet and diarist.
Their work features in this year’s Cockermouth Live! Festival, which is due to be held in the town from July 3.
It will the start of a year-long project by Cockermouth-based Kirkgate Arts and Heritage charity marking Dorothy’s importance to local and national heritage.
Chair Marion Bowman said: “We’re very pleased to shine a light on Cockermouth’s most famous daughter, an inspirational woman whose values still mean so much today.
“We’re delighted to be working with the National Trust at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Wordsworth Grasmere which has just completed an impressive redesign of their facilities on the Dove Cottage site and Rydal Mount, Dorothy’s final home, which is still owned by members of the Wordsworth family.”
A free exhibition about Dorothy and William’s childhoods in Cockermouth will be held at the Kirkgate Centre between August 7 and August 21, with further exhibitions and items connected to Dorothy and her family at the main Wordsworth venues throughout Cumbria – the National Trust’s Wordsworth House, Cockermouth; Dove Cottage, Wordsworth Grasmere; and Rydal Mount.
