'A Poet in Every Port' - National poetry tour heading for South Tyneside... here's when it docks
The ‘Poet In Every Port’ tour is coming here soon.
London’s Southbank Centre is bringing its celebration of the UK dialects to South Tyneside.
The ‘Poet In Every Port’ tour brings the mobile National Poetry Library to The Word in South Shields’ Market Place on Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19.
The project celebrates the nation’s diverse dialects and languages and tells the stories of the country's coastal communities in poetry and spoken word.
The mobile National Poetry Library brings a selection of the world’s largest collection of modern poetry to South Shields on its 11-stop tour coastal towns and cities.
Visitors will have the opportunity to take part in free poetry workshops run by local poets, browse unique collections, write their own poetry and record their work in the mobile library’s recording studio.
At the centre of the national tour, is a new cohort of the New Poets Collective, which has been formed to support emerging poets from each region the library is visiting.
Representing our borough is Akiba Azad, a British-Bengali poet from South Shields, who will lead a Word Exchange poetry workshop on Saturday.
The workshop will guide participants through a series of writing exercises that encourage everyone to write their own poem, drawing from local dialects, accents and languages.
A Poet in Every Port was inspired by the travelling exhibitions of the 1951 Festival of Britain and forms a key part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary national programme.
Roger McGough, celebrated Liverpool poet and ambassador for A Poet In Every Port, said: “This initiative, inspired by the optimistic Festival of Britain 75 years ago, is to show poetry is for everyone.
“Writing poetry is what helps us feel human, vulnerable and yet powerful and above all, alive. It’s something I have loved all my life.”
Pauline Martin, community librarian said: “South Tyneside Libraries are thrilled to be a partner with the Southbank Centre’s A Poet in Every Port Project.
“Several years ago we recognised the importance of preserving local dialect within the area and launched a project to collect forgotten, unused and popular dialect words from our residents.
“These words have been collated into a dialect dictionary, and we hope to use this as the basis of some of our sessions allowing us to explore the rich heritage of our area through the medium of poetry.”