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The Emerging Poet Residency
As Crate Poetry grows, platforming national and international poets alongside some of the most vital voices in UK poetry, it's important to us that local talent grows with it. This residency is how we do that. Six emerging West Midlands poets with their work sitting on our platform alongside headline names.
This is a real investment in six poets and their practice, with the platform to match.
Over six weeks of development sessions the selected poets will:
Create new work.
Work on your craft with a focus on originality and internal voice.
Explore and experiment with external voice and body for performance.
Learn how to curate a poetry set from collating old and new work to confidently engaging with audiences.
You'll get:
Six development sessions.
Professionally recorded set.
Your set featured across Crate Poetry. platforms.
A structured peer community.
Poet residency fee.
Master Class
Details
All in-person sessions will take place in Birmingham City Centre.
Times and locations will be sent to successful applications.
Date TBC
Online
Roger Robinson
A generative session with Roger Robinson to get you working on fresh drafts, whether you are looking for new staple poems or useful material to test fresh ideas and techniques.
Saturday 5th Sept
In-Person
Bohdan Piasecki
A craft-oriented session with Bohdan Piasecki where we will collaborate on establishing a peer workshop culture focused on getting you closer to writing the poems that only you can write.
Saturday 12th Sept
In-Person
A focused look at writing and editing. We will treat the editing process as a creative practice rather than a punitive exercise, helping you find specificity and originality of voice.
Saturday 12th Sept
In-Person
Hannah Silva
An ambitious and experimental exploration of voice and body in performance, and how they can occupy more space in writing and sharing new work.
Saturday 19th Sept
In-Person
Joelle Taylor
Preparing for the gig: crafting a set, engaging with an audience, editing for the occasion… Pulling together old and new work into something that represents you right now.
Saturday 26th Sept
In-Person
Ty'rone Haughton
Filming your final, professional set with Crate Poetry.
Date TBC
Online
Closing online debrief / celebration session
About You
We're looking for six emerging poets based in the West Midlands. 'Emerging' is loosely defined: we're thinking about poets who haven't yet had significant institutional support, publishing deals, or major development programmes behind them. If you're making work and looking for a real step forward, this is for you.
You should apply if:
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You are based in the West Midlands
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You write poetry for any medium — spoken word, page, performance, hybrid, or something else entirely
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You are at an early or developing stage of your practice
Age range: 18+