Memory

I grew up in Essex and didn’t venture north that often. We got all our shopping from Colchester and my best mate lived near Chelmsford. But when we were about 15 we started a band (it was called Koonunger since you ask, we were terrible) and our drummer lived just outside Bures. So every Sunday we’d venture a smidge over the border to practise our songs of teenage heartache and crass social observation to the soft undulating countryside of Suffolk.

Landmark

Sizewell A. Is that a landmark? Most would say it’s an eyesore, but I find it fascinating. It’s a dominant image in the new piece I’m writing. That towering grey concrete, a portal to the cold war era. The thought of the spent fuel ponds, harbouring all that toxicity. And right there looming over that beautiful beach. Such beauty, such danger. That excites me.

Beach

Well, if not Sizewell then how about Shingle Street? It too has a mysterious past. Was it the site of a German invasion during WWII, or was that just black propaganda to encourage the Americans into the war effort? Whatever the truth it’s a strange an beautiful place. You feel as if you’re in a dream as you hike your way up the hills of shingle. And there’s the line of white shells created by Lida Cardozo Kindersley and her childhood friend Els Bottema as a way of coping with their shared experience of cancer treatment. A line of white shells stretches across the beach down to the sea. It’s beautiful.

Place to eat

There’s loads of amazing restaurants in Suffolk, and a fair few pretentious, over-priced tourist traps! After eating at one of these recently I was delighted to find myself the following week back at my local, The Earsham Street Cafe in Bungay where the food is home-cooked, delicious and reasonably priced. It’s also served with a smile. I’d book ahead as it’s always packed, and justifiably so.


Pub

Again, it has to be local - The Green Dragon in Bungay. This is proper boozer. They sometimes have a pop up menu or live music but really it’s a place for ale and conversation. The best stuff.

Attraction

I don’t really like going to things. I like walking, talking, eating and drinking.

Export

Baron Bigod brie, made here in Bungay from unpasteurised milk, is a wonderful cheese and seemingly known the whole country over these days.

Shop

When driving past Darsham on the A12 I can’t resist stopping off at the Darsham Station Emporium. It earns the name Emporium. There is real treasure to be found here.

Event

I have for the last 16 years spent a glorious lost weekend at the Latitude Festival. For 11 years I programmed the poetry there and I always perform. It’s truly first rate music and arts festival. Having had a fallow year during the pandemic it was all the better in 2021. I dream of fields and tents and lights in the woods.

Town or village

Aside from my adopted home of Bungay, I love Clare for its shops and castle ruin and strange old former railway station, the grass grown up where the tracks used to be. This is a really rather special spot for a picnic.


Luke Wright enjoys an international reputation for his poetry and spellbinding performances. He has been a professional poet for over 20 years, is winner of multiple awards and was described by The Daily Telegraph as ’The Bard of Lockdown’ for his 100 consecutive daily 2020 Twitter shows. He is currently on an extensive UK tour taking in the length and breadth of the country and can be seen locally at The Marina Theatre Lowestoft on Thursday, March 31. marinatheatre.co.uk
His latest book The Feel Good Movie of the Year is published by Penned In the Margins.