New Writing South
New Writing South worked in partnership with Creative Future to develop a six-week performance poetry project. Twelve unemployed and marginalised adults applied to take part in the project, none of whom had performed their work publicly before. Each of the twelve participants produced pieces of poetry, which was then performed at an event at the Amnesty Bookshop, Brighton.
During the sessions, ran by professional writer Marian Kilpatrick, the participants had an introduction to performance poetry, confronted fears of performing in front of an audience, developed and performed poetry and fed back to each other about the work they’ve created. Visiting performance poets Rosy Carrick and Tom Cunliffe performed some of their poems and answered questions.
The project culminated in a performance at the Amnesty International Bookshop, Brighton, where 11 of the 12 participants read their work aloud to a select audience of family and friends.
Following the project, all participants received a year’s free membership with New Writing South. An independent producer from Company Paradiso visited the group to negotiate further work. 100% of participants said they would continue to write creatively and would like to work with a writer again.
