The Poetry and Young People project is a new initiative that aims to engage more young people in poetry reading, writing and performance and attract new audiences to the art form.
Funded by Arts Council England and managed by Booktrust the project will run for 12 months (up to October 2010) and undertake the following series of activities:
> Research and mapping of current poetry provision across the educational phases (from Early Years through to Post-16) to highlight good practice, build up a regional picture of delivery, identify significant gaps in the sector’s ‘offer’ to young people and explore opportunities for future development
> Distribution of funds to support the creation of new poetry initiatives for young people, based on strategic priorities and application criteria set by the project’s Review Group
> Stakeholder consultation meetings with teachers, librarians, publishers, broadcasters, writers, performance poets and other creative professionals involved in poetry provision
> Audience consultation workshops with children and young people (from 5 – 19 years), facilitated by published writers and performance poets
> Publication of a final evaluation report of project outcomes, with recommendations for the poetry sector on how to create a sustainable legacy for the project’s work.
Review Group
A Review Group of specialist advisors and creative practitioners – chaired by Sir Andrew Motion – will guide the direction of the project:
Francesca Beard, poet
Viv Bird, Chief Executive, Booktrust
Antonia Byatt, Director of Literature Strategy, Arts Council England
Liz Cleaver, Controller – Learning, BBC
Maura Dooley, poet/Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Sue Horner, Acting Director – Curriculum, Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA)
Andrew Motion, Chair of the Review Group
Paul Roberts, Managing Director, Improvement and Development Agency
William Sieghart, Chairman and Founder, Forward Arts Foundation/National Poetry Day
Improving poetry provision for young people: An invitation to tender for grant funding
As well as running our own campaigns and programmes Booktrust manages the Poetry and Young People Project– an Arts Council England funded initiative that seeks to engage more young people in poetry reading, writing and performance and attract new audiences to the art form. As a Thrive! Project it seeks to increase the poetry sector’s capacity to reach young people.
On behalf of Arts Council England, Booktrust invites organisations to submit proposals for grant funding that will be used to improve poetry provision for young people.
Click here to download the application guidance document
Completed applications can be sent via email attachment, or posted to:
Katherine Woodfine
c/o Booktrust - Book House, 45 East Hill, London SW18 2QZ
Email: katherine.woodfine@booktrust.org.uk
The deadline for receipt of all completed applications is
5pm on Friday 14 May 2010.
Any proposals received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Further information
For further information, please contact:
Katherine Woodfine
c/o Booktrust
Book House,
45 East Hill
London SW18 2QZ
t 020 8875 4580
