Author: rebecca.kosick

A group of Bristol projects celebrating the city’s poetic past, present and future has been awarded £87,700 funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. A Poetic City is a programme of activity run by organisations including The Bristol Poetry Institute, Lyra poetry festival, Glenside Hospital Museum, the University of Bristol, Bristol Libraries, Bristol Culture, the RWA and St Mary Redcliffe. Poets from across the country, as well as poets from the city, will be writing and performing new works, guided poetry walks will explore different parts of the city and a free comic will be produced, telling the story of Bristol’s famous poets. The project has been inspired by Bristolian poet Thomas Chatterton, who was born in 1752 and inspired generations of poets after him.

The project runs until the end of 2020 and includes:

• Writers in residence being based a public sites across the city.
• New poetry commissions being written by 10 poets, performed and shared across the city.
• The new app, exploring the city and it’s connections with poetry and poets.
• The story of Bristol’s poetic history, and one of the city’s most famous poets, Thomas Chatterton, told in comic-book style and distributed across the city.
• Walking tours of the city led by academics and poets.
• Poets working with local communities, young and old, through St Mary Redcliffe Church.
• A new poem specially written by the City Poet, Vanessa Kisuule.
• A series of lectures exploring young people, arts and mental health.
• Special events across the city as part of Bristol Open Doors (https://bristolopendoors.org.uk/).
• More activity and events will be added to the programme as it is developed over the coming months.

Find out more on Twitter: #BristolPoeticCity