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The Latest Breaking News from Celebration Day

Sophie Thompson reads Wendy Cope’s ‘The Orange’ in honour of three ‘extraordinary’ greengrocers

Thompson commemorates Celebration Day in a film exclusively published by ‘The Independent’

The Independent UK

Joanna Scanlan reads ‘Now’ by Robert Browning in memory of her childhood friend for Celebration Day

Scanlan pays tribute to her childhood friend Sarah with a reading for Celebration Day

The Independent UK

Joanna Scanlan on the death of her childhood friend: ‘At boarding school, emotions were packed into a small, tidy box’

The Bafta-winning star of ‘The Thick of It’ and ‘After Love’ has dedicated a poem to her friend Sarah to mark Celebration Day, an annual moment dedicated to remembering those who have died

The Independent UK

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Celebration Day: Nathaniel Parker performs Samuel Johnson’s ‘On the Death of Dr Robert Levet’ in memory of his mother

Nathaniel Parker, best known for his roles in Inspector Linely and Maigret, reads “On the Death of Dr Robert Levet” by Samuel Johnson in memory of his late mother who worked as an NHS doctor. “How often do we get the chance, in this incredibly busy and fast life, to…

The Independent UK

Celebration Day: Absolutely Fabulous star Helen Lederer reads ‘Sunflowers’ by Harry Baker in memory of Tony Slattery

Comedian Helen Lederer of Absolutely Fabulous fame performs “Sunflowers” by Harry Baker in memory of the actor Tony Slattery. “We’re very lucky in a lifetime to have those few friendships,” she says of her friendship with Slattery, “it’s rare.” The short film, directed by Oliver Parker and shot at Dr…

The Independent UK

Alison Steadman reads ‘Recuerdo’ in memory of her parents and two ‘lovely’ sisters

Alison Steadman reads “Recuerdo” by Edna St Vincent Millay in remembrance of both her parents and her two “lovely” sisters. “It’s very sad but I comfort myself in the memory that I had such kindness given to me,” Steadman says. The short film, directed by Oliver Parker and shot at…

The Independent UK

Celebration Day: Ophelia Lovibond reads Christina Rossetti’s ‘Remember’ in memory of Caroline Flack

The actor Ophelia Lovibond reads “Remember” by Victorian poet Christina Rossetti in honour of her late friend, the TV presenter Caroline Flack who died aged 40 in 2020. “I had never experienced this gulf, this absence,” she says. “And yet her absence felt like a presence at the same time.”…

The Independent UK

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Poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay reads from ‘Let the Light Pour In’ for his late friend on Celebration Day

Lemn Sissay OBE, the poet and broadcaster, read a work from his 2013 bestselling collection Let the Light Pour In in honour of his friend Sarah Weir, with whom he worked as a poet for the 2012 London Olympics before she died of cancer. “She said to her partner, when…

The Independent UK

Ophelia Lovibond on Caroline Flack: ‘I still see things I know she’d find funny’

‘W1A’ star Ophelia Lovibond remembers her friend Caroline Flack ahead of Celebration Day

The Independent UK

Celebration Day: Donna Ashworth reads ‘Love Came First’ in memory of her music teacher

The bestselling Scottish poet dedicates her reading of “Love Came First” to Jan or “Mrs Calder” as she was known, Ashworth’s “larger than life” music teacher. The short film, directed by Oliver Parker and shot at Dr Johnson’s House in London, is part of a series to commemorate Celebration Day…

The Independent UK

Performance poet Sam Browne reads ‘Love is the Running Towards’ for Celebration Day

The poet Sam Browne reads an original work titled “Love is the Running Towards” for his friends Oscar and Harry, both of whom lost someone close to them. “Poetry in many ways is the pueIt’s to the people who helped me find beauty within the pain and have helped me…

The Independent UK

Celebration Day: Poet Lucas Jones performs ‘No Flowers, Please’ for his childhood friend

On social media, Lucas Jones shares his poetry about masculinity, love, and grief to more than one million followers. Here, he reads “No Flowers, Please”, a poem he wrote in remembrance of his childhood friend Ali who died when he was 25 years old. The short film, directed by Oliver…

The Independent UK

Celebration Day: Poet Hussain Manawer performs ‘Soft Heart’ in honour of his late mother

Hussain Manawer, the Sunday Times bestselling poet and author of Life is Sad and Beautiful, reads an original poem titled “Soft Heart” in memory of his late mother on what would have been her birthday. The short film, directed by Oliver Parker and shot at Dr Johnson’s House in London,…

The Independent UK

‘Poetry helped me find my feet again’: Joanna Scanlan and Ophelia Lovibond perform readings in memory of loved ones for Celebration Day

Works by Samuel Johnson, Wendy Cope and Robert Browning are read aloud in a series of poignant short films about grief

The Independent UK

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The Guardian - UK

How will you remember your loved ones? With the nationwide Celebration Day – or by shouting at squirrels?

Every loss is different, and so is how we deal with it. When I asked my friends about their mourning rituals, they mentioned parties, dances, ice-creams on the seafront, writes Emma Beddington

The Guardian - UK

‘He lived inside poetry’: Toby Jones and Helena Bonham Carter perform poems in memory of lost loved ones

Actors including Asa Butterfield, Stephen Mangan and Susan Wokoma share poems as part of ‘Celebration Day’, a new annual moment dedicated to commemorating family and friends

Wales Online

Arlene Phillips shares beautiful gesture in memory of late Strictly co-star Len Goodman

The former Strictly judge appeared on ITV's Loose Women to talk about Celebration Day

The Guardian - UK

‘I’ll miss her firm hugs’: loved ones to be remembered on Celebration Day

Guardian readers share tributes to people they will celebrate during the inaugural event on 26 June

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The Guardian - UK

Tell us: whose life would you like to celebrate?

We would like to hear about the person you would like to remember on the inaugural “Celebration Day” on 26 June

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