The East Riding Library Service has teamed up with The South Bank Centre, London, on their new literary project called GPS (Global Poetry System!) which is designed to map the whereabouts of poetry in the UK’s landscapes and cityscapes.
Over the coming months, poets and poetry sleuths will be able to raise the profile of the places they love through posting poems about them on the GPS website. This can be poetry they’ve written or poems they’ve found in the landscape or on the streets.
There are poems scattered all over the place. They might be discovered on monuments, benches, plaques, in churches or could even include poetic graffiti such as the ‘Hip-Hop Chip Shop’ found written on the front of a chippie whose cheerful staff were known for their hip-hopping while serving customers. They can also include oral poetry like local nursery rhymes or sports chants.
To kick-start this project, East Riding Libraries have invited poet and writer Pat Borthwick to run a series of creative writing workshops designed to get you writing about where you live, and to get you hunting for hidden poetic gems. Poems will then be posted on the GPS map at www.gps.southbankcentre.co.uk for everyone to enjoy. If you can’t make it to one of the many sessions that we’ll be running through until April next year, you can go to the site and post poems on it yourself.
John W. Clarke, Director, Wordquake, says:
We’re delighted to be teamed up with the South Bank Centre on this innovative project that gives everyone the chance to celebrate the place where they live in words. I look forward to reading all the hidden gems that are no doubt out there – or yet to be written. We hope to display the findings at out new poetry festival at Sewerby Hall over the weekend of 11,12,13 June 2010.
Participating libraries at this stage include:
Market Weighton Library on Nov 25, 1pm-3.30pm (tel 0845 1225000)
Cottingham Library on 2 Dec,1.30pm – 3.30pm (tel 01262 671468)
N.Bridlington Library Jan 27 (2010), 6pm-8 pm (tel 01482 392762)
To book a place, contact the participating library. We plan to work with other venues in 2010 and information about these and other events will be available from http://www.bevlit.org/ over the next couple of weeks. For more information about this project email Pat Borthwick at: pab@theolddairy1.freeserve.co.uk
This event is organised by Wordquake, the literature development organisation run by East Riding Libraries and part-funded by Arts Council England, Yorkshire. For more information regarding Wordquake or for interviews and information related to this event, contact John W. Clarke on 07870 584889 or email john.clarke@eastriding.gov.uk
Posted on November 29th, 2009 by admin
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