Poem by George Szirtes | Music by Sarah Frances Jenkins | Poem read live by Dame Emma Thompson, Tindy Katangaza, George Szirtes | Music performed by Odyssey Ensemble
The Way There
for Poetry Readers & Piano Quintet
Duration: 5”45’
Poem by George Szirtes
Music by Sarah Frances Jenkins
‘The Way There’ represents the result of a special collaboration between T. S. Eliot Prize winning poet George Szirtes, composer Sarah Frances Jenkins, Odyssey Ensemble and the Refugee Council. George wrote ‘The Way There’, a poem about the experiences of refugees having to flee their homes. Sarah then composed a musical soundtrack (for piano quintet) over which the poem was read live in concert by Dame Emma Thompson (Patron of the Refugee Council), her son Tindy Katangaza and George Szirtes.
The full video of the performance will be released in 2026, but an extract can be found above.
Dame Emma Thompson reading ‘The Way There’ (image © Copyright Refugee Council, 2025)