A chance to be poet-in-residence at a London park – don’t let lack of experience stop from you applying
Are you a poet who likes flowers and people and parks?
The Poetry School and London Parks and Gardens Trust have teamed up for a poet-in-residence training scheme centred on London’s Gardens. They call it ‘Mixed Borders’.
After a thorough how-to-be-a-poet-in-residence training session, sucessful applicants are paired up with one of the gardens taking part in June’s Open Garden Squares Weekend.
You don’t need to have had previous experience to take part, but you should be writing at an intermediate to advanced level (details here) and able to organise your own residency and engage with members of the public. The Poetry School are particularly keen to hear from people who feel they have lacked opportunities to develop their poetry in the past for reasons of social circumstances or background.
Before applying check that you can make the following dates:
March 11th 2017 an all-day session on at the Poetry School,
June 17th and 18th – the weekend of your residency. The amount of contact between you and your garden owner in between times will depend on the style of residency you go for.
You don’t need to be a London poet in order to apply – but, of course, you do need to be able to get there. Sussex writer and poet Ann Perrin was poet in residence for the last two years and I first found out about this scheme through her blog. Read about her experiences HERE.
To apply you need to email three poems and a short biography addressing the issues above and detailing any relevant experience to Julia Bird (programme@poetryschool.com)
The deadline is Friday February 3rd 2017 so hurry.
Good luck. This sounds like a wonderful opportunity.
5 comments on “A chance to be poet-in-residence at a London park – don’t let lack of experience stop from you applying”
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BRIDGET WHELAN writer 
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
Thanks Chris
Thank YOU for posting it Bridget 😃
It was best thing that happened to me since I retired to Brighton, but I am a Londoner born and bred and still miss it lots. Quite honestly it can be expensive to go back as often as I would like!
Thank you for mentioning my blog x
If you do get a residency and go from Brighton beware of strikes, leave loads of time, investigate travel cards, Thameslink, buses and/or change at East Croydon. But London’s Open Gardens weekend is wonderful anyway!
Good Luck!
Good advice from Ann. Follow in her footsteps (and check out her blog for inspiration and a sense of what a residency is like)