Guantánamo Bay might seem to be a unlikely subject for verse, but a showcase event at this year’s Ledbury Poetry Festival will reveal that is not the case at all.

The Festival will showcase seven newly commissioned poems at an event on Saturday July 6, hosted by Reprieve founder and celebrated human rights lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, who will talk about his work.

The Festival’s artistic director, Chloe Garner said : “Seven diverse and brilliant poets have been commissioned to write poems about Guantánamo Bay and they will read their poems, for the first time, at this Ledbury Poetry Festival event. The poets are Roy McFarlane, Jane Commane, Jacqueline Saphra, Casey Bailey, Ruth Stacey, Vidyan Ravinthiran and David Morley. They have had access to detailed information about individual detainees including art works and poetry created by detainees, as well as background information about Guantánamo Bay.”

Chloe added: “Reprieve co-Founder, Clive Stafford Smith has visited Guantánamo Bay countless times and has met and represented detainees. He will talk about his work and his experiences at a unique Ledbury Poetry Festival event . Clive Stafford Smith was one of three lawyers who successfully sued for access to the Guantánamo Bay prison and began to represent those who languished there. Far from meeting the ‘worst of the worst’, Clive met children, victims of mistaken identity, journalists who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and – the vast majority of the time – people sold to the US for large bounties – typically, around $5,000 for each man.

“Since 2002, 779 people, including at least 15 children, have been imprisoned at Guantánamo. So far just 4 detainees have been convicted of a crime – fewer than the number who have died in detention.”

Reprieve has been working on Guantánamo Bay since they fought for access in 2004. Known now as a symbol of injustice and torture, Guantánamo houses people who were systematically abducted, tortured and imprisoned with no trial or due process. But although Guantánamo is synonymous with torture and abuse, it remains open to this day.

Chloe added: “That is why it’s so important that Reprieve continues to raise awareness about Guantánamo.”

Clive Stafford Smith added: “Guantanamo remains the enduring symbol of injustice of our time and it defies belief that it remains open to this day in the face of the mistreatment that we know takes place there.

“ I’m delighted to be working with the Ledbury Poetry Festival and seven incredibly talented poets to raise awareness of Guantanamo and the men who continue to be held there with no charge, no trial and no hope of freedom.”

Reprieve is a human rights organisation based in London but working across the globe “to offer legal, advocacy and investigative support to some of the world’s most vulnerable people”.

Festival details: www.poetry-festival.co.uk