Ready.....PLAY.

As I sit at my desk I can hear, from many corners of the country, whoops of delight and chattered excitement at the prospect of an alternative sporting event. The strawberries are red and plump, Pimms is sparkling, the lawns of SW19 are gleaming, fresh and green and young Laura Robson is playing on Centre Court. Hurray for Wimbledon!

This year Ways with Words has an especial interest in the event. Matt Harvey is the first Wimbledon Poet, and has already been busy down at the All England Club. His contributions, focusing on everything at Wimbledon from the food, the weather, the grass, the umpires, crowds, ball boys and girls and the players will be up on his Wimbledon blog at Wimblewords. His first poem, Grandest of Slams, is up there right now.

I think this is a fantastic addition to Wimbledon. So many people, whether they play tennis or not, enjoy watching Wimbledon and Matt will bring out all their various different experiences, in poetry, blogging and random performances at the queue line. His quirky, humourous style should fit perfectly with this most quintessential of British summer experiences, enhancing the tournament's wider appeal and ensuring it stays the Greatest of Slams.

We're looking forward to having Matt at the festival on Sunday 18th July for what promises to be a fantastic evening of poetry and anecdotes from the tournament.

Going back to the crux of the issue, though - who to win? Will Federer claim a 7th title? Will Nadal's hunger prove greater? He certainly looks the most in-form player, and possibly the most raring to go. How will Laura Robson fare on Centre against Jankovic - what a match for her, btw. I don't think she's a no-hoper, she can play fantastically when she wants to so let's hope we see her fine, fighting form and that she enjoys every minute of it. And of course, the annual question on everyone's lips - Will Andy Murray Win This Year? Maybe it's time for another office sweep stake....

In other news, we are steaming head on with publicity for lots of events. A piece of Richard Long's work will be appearing at Torre Abbey's TAMED exhibition, running from July 5th to August 31st. Check out local newspapers for coverage of the festival in the next few weeks.

Ticket sales are on a bit of a boost - chaos reigned briefly on Thursday morning after announcements and ticket allocations got a bit out of sync but the good ship recovered and all is now back to normal! I've been making friends at Totcom printers and am very excited about the colour flyers they are printing for me for the Martin Creed and Richard Long events. Thanks to Mac Pages my designer talents have taken on a rare sheen and I'm optimistic about the finished product!

So off we go into another week. Three left before the festival! The sun is shining and the rat that has been scurrying around the office is nowhere to be seen. All is good. And with that, I must go and stop procrastinating under the guise of blogging...

A bientot!

Fi x