The Poet’s Place is a collection of new poetry from across Northern Ireland and is a part of the Poetry in Motion Community programme, run by Community Arts Partnership. The Poetry in Motion Community project encourages and supports local writers, writing groups and networks to encourage creative writing across the region, and is supported by its principal funder, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, along with support from Belfast City Council and Lloyds TSB Foundation NI.
Earlier this year CAP invited residents in any part of Northern Ireland to submit poems that demonstrated some notion of the poet’s place. Wherever or whatever that may be; whether that finds itself in lyrical observation of landscapes or making a social comment. A selection of these works was then chosen for the anthology to celebrate the eclectic poetic voices in Northern Ireland.
Many of the poems were collected via public submission while many others were conceived in writing workshops conducted by Community Arts Partnership’s poet facilitators Annemarie Mullan, Brenda Liddy, Chelley McLear, Deirdre Cartmill, Ellen Factor and Jani Melia.
Director of Community Arts Partnership, Conor Shields said:
“I am delighted to see The Poet’s Place in print. This is the first Poetry in Motion Community publication under the auspices of Community Arts Partnership and this collection draws together refreshingly excellent new work, from established and emerging poets. From the bucolic to the vitriolic, and all points in between, this new anthology offers an insightful journey, connecting poets from across Northern Ireland.”
Poetry in Motion Coordinator, Chelley McLear said:
“Observation, recollection and commentary all lend their voices to this anthology in a host of accents. Together they create spaces to contemplate their history, their future and their state of being, their geography, relationships and responsibilities. This is a truly exciting collection of new work and we are delighted to bring these words to print.”
The Poet’s Place will be launched Saturday 30th June at 5pm in The Dark Horse, Commercial Court, Belfast.
Together the poems might entertain, amuse, shock, astonish or sadden but they each demonstrate some notion of where the poet’s place could be.
