Poet in the City

Poet in the City
Motto Putting poetry on a platform[1]
Formation 1998 (as a project of the Poetry Society).[2] An independent charity since 2006[3]
Type arts and education
Legal status Registered charity
Purpose Creating new audiences for poetry through an eclectic programme of events, commissions and education work
Headquarters London
Location
Chief Executive
 Isobel Colchester[4]
Budget
 £148,673[3]
Staff
 2[4]
Volunteers
 50+[5]
Website www.poetinthecity.co.uk

Poet in the City is a prominent London-based poetry charity, specialising in large-scale live events aimed at new audiences for poetry. Founded in 1998 as a project of the Poetry Society,[2] it became an independent charity in 2006.[3] Open to anyone, and free to join, it has a current membership of over 4,000 people and runs about 25 poetry events a year, mainly in central London, including about 12 events a year at Kings Place, an arts venue situated just north of King’s Cross station.

Poet in the City is a venture philanthropy charity, building a bridge between the worlds of business and the world of the arts. It has developed a streamlined funding model in which most of the funds it raises are used to support its artistic outputs. Keeping its core costs very low by means of in-kind sponsorships and the use of new technology, the charity also benefits from the support of over 125 active volunteers. In April 2011, Poet in the City was offered National Portfolio Funding by Arts Council England, meaning that it will receive regular funding for a period of four years from 2012.

History

Poet in the City was founded in 1998 as a project of the Poetry Society,[2] by Rosamund McCarthy, a lawyer at Bates, Wells & Braithwaite LLP. It involved a number of City of London-based organisations, mainly law firms, in an annual fund-raising effort. Monies raised were used to deliver schools visits, placing poets in the classroom, and encouraging pupils to read and write poetry. Early successes included a John Donne event at the Chapter House of St Paul's Cathedral and an open-air event on the steps of the Royal Exchange on National Poetry Day.

Governance

Poet in the City is managed by a board of trustees chaired by Renato Labi.[4] Its Chief Executive is Isobel Colchester.[4] She succeeded Graham Henderson, who was in post from July 2003 until March 2014.[6]

Events

Poet in the City event on Wallace Stevens at Kings Place, London on 17 November 2014

Poet in the City holds monthly participatory drop-in events at Waterstones Piccadilly, where members of the charity’s audience are invited to read their favourite poems (or their own poems) on a certain theme,[7] and about 25 major poetry events every year in and around central London.[8] Since 2008 it has held about a dozen events per year at Kings Place, the arts venue just north of King’s Cross. The organisation’s events have included "Courtly Love" – poetry from the palaces of the Maharajahs, events with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Seamus Heaney, celebrations of "late great poets" including John Keats, Hafez, Thomas Hardy, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, and foreign language poetry events. Every year Poet in the City launches National Poetry Day with a poetry power breakfast held in the City of London.

Working with partners to promote poetry to new audiences

In order to reach out effectively to new audiences for poetry, Poet in the City works with many partners in the literature sector and beyond. These include the Royal Society of Literature,[9] Jewish Book Week, the Poetry Book Society, Modern Poetry in Translation,[10] the National Portrait Gallery,[11] the British Museum,[12] the Imperial War Museum,[13] Christie's, Amnesty International,[14] the City of London Festival and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Many of the charity’s supporters have come to it through these connections. The charity also regularly works with literary societies such as the Browning Society and Keats House.[15]

Poet in the City's New Audiences initiative, managed by a committee of the under-25s, specialises in providing platforms for some very contemporary poets, and connecting them with wider audiences. The charity has held programmes of events in partnership with several London-based universities including LSE, Imperial College, University College London, University of Roehampton and Goldsmiths.

Spoken Word All Stars

In 2010 Poet in the City produced its first national poetry tour, delivered in partnership with Apples and Snakes.[16] Taking half a dozen of the UK’s most accomplished spoken word artists, Kat Francois, Kate Tempest, El Crisis, OneNess and Chris Redmond (ventriloquist), accompanied by the jazz saxophonist Jason Yarde, the charity produced a new show designed to promote them and their work to new audiences all over the UK. Launched at Latitude in July 2010, the show appeared at a number of top venues all over the country during 2010 and 2011, including the Bluecoat in Liverpool, Contact in Manchester, Kings Place in London,[17] MAC in Birmingham, Lakeside Arts Centre in Nottingham,[18] the Pierhead in Cardiff, Theatre in the Mill in Bradford,[16] and as part of the Bristol Spring Poetry Festival at the Arnolfini.[19] The Tour was also the subject of a Sky Arts documentary.[20]

Patrons and poet in residence

Poet in the City has four patrons, the poets Andrew Motion,[21] Jo Shapcott and Wendy Cope and the lawyer and human rights campaigner Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.[22][23] It also has a poet in residence, John Mole.[7]

Sponsors, Friends and volunteers

Poet in the City is supported by a panel of corporate organisations that provide in-kind support and ad-hoc sponsorship.[24]

Poet in the City operates a Friends’ scheme whereby individuals can support its work.[25]

It has over 50 active volunteers who are involved in a range of activities from event management to marketing, film production to blogging and front of house.[5]

Schools work

Poet in the City has funded about 120 placements in primary and secondary schools.[2] These have included specialised programmes designed to raise awareness of issues such as mental health, the natural environment and knife crime. The placements mainly take the form of 3–5 day visits[2] by poet educators, designed to encourage pupils to read and write poetry. In delivering these programmes the charity has worked in partnership with a number of other organisations, notably the Poetry Society, Samaritans, Lapidus and Learning Through the Arts. It has delivered schools programmes in Maria Fidelis School in Camden,[26] one with the Spoken Word All Stars, and the other with the Cuban poet Milena Rodriguez.

In 2014 Poet in the City held a series of education workshops as part of a project with Archives for London called "Through the Door". Seven leading UK poets, including Andrew Motion, Jo Shapcott, David Harsent and Imtiaz Dhaker were placed into London archives, resulting in newly commissioned poetry, live events and schools workshops.[2]

Educational work remains a strong commitment for the charity.[2]

International perspective

About 20% of Poet in the City events feature poets or poetry from around the world and the charity is committed to celebrating the great poetry cultures of the world. Current international partners include the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Instituto Cervantes,[27][28] and the Casa Fernando Pessoa. In 2009, thanks to a sponsorship from HSBC Bank, Poet in the City took Akerke Mussabekova, a young Kazakh poet, to Canada for a six-month residency, courtesy of the Vancouver Literary Festival and the Joy Kogawa House.[29] In 2009–10, with the support of the British Council, the charity delivered Words Converge, a text-based art installation created by Text/Gallery. The art work was displayed in the main atrium at Kings Place during the Kings Place Festival[30] and later had separate emanations in Israel, Georgia and Romania.[31]

Rimbaud and Verlaine house

Poet in the City inherited a campaign to create an Anglo-French cultural centre at 8 Royal College Street in Camden, the house occupied by the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine[32] whne they lived in London in 1873. It played a leading role in the setting up of a new charity, the Rimbaud and Verlaine Foundation, to take this initiative forward.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Learning". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "1117354 – Poet in the City: Charity overview". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "People". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Volunteers". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Graham Henderson leaves Poet in the City". Arts Professional. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Drop-ins". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Events". Poet in the City. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Royal Society of Literature". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "Graham Henderson". Modern Poetry in Translation. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "National Portrait Gallery – Poet in the City:Courtly Love".
  12. ↑ "What's On In Camden – Event: Songs of Life and Hope". Retrieved January 2011.
  13. ↑ "The Poetry Library – Events – Poetry Readings".
  14. ↑ "AIUK : Poet in the City : Home". Retrieved 10 Jan 2011.
  15. ↑ "Keats Festival – coming soon to Keats House". Things to see and do: London. The National Trust. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Word Life – Spoken Word Allstars". Theatre in the Mill, Bradford. February 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  17. ↑ Smith, Sophie (8 December 2010). "Spoken Word All Stars Tour at Kings Place". News – arts. Queen Mary University of London Students' Union. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Poet in the City & Apples and Snakes Presents – Spoken Word All Stars". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  19. ↑ "Tour Dates – Spoken Word All Stars". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  20. ↑ "Sky Arts – Sky Arts at Spoken Word All Stars". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  21. ↑ "Andrew Motion our new Patron". Vimeo. Poet in the City. 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Poet in the City – Acknowledgements". Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  23. ↑ "Patrons". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  24. ↑ "Corporate panel". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  25. ↑ "Friends". Poet in the City. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  26. ↑ "Poet in the City". Links. Maria Fidelis RC Convent School. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  27. ↑ "Flamenco "Deciphering the Alhambra"". Retrieved January 2011.
  28. ↑ "Cultural Programme April – June 2010" (PDF). Instituto Cervantes Londres. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  29. ↑ "HSBC Cultural Exchange – HSBC Canadian Poetry Residency". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  30. ↑ "text/gallery – Words Converge, Kings Place". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  31. ↑ "Words Converge – Creative Collaboration". Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  32. ↑ "3AM Magazine – Chasing Rimbaud". Retrieved January 2011.

External links