This is the second year of Morecambe Poetry Festival, building on an extremely successful event which featured top talent such as John Cooper Clake, and was incredibly well received by artists and audience alike. This years fest features Carol Ann Duffy, Roger McGough, Jackie Kay, John Hegley, Henry Normal and many more. The 2023 Poetry Festival will be partnered with the Morecambe Eden Communities, featuring a line up of top-tier poets alongside emerging voices, to bring together a conversation about environmental sustainability and the arts. The Festival will create opportunities for career advancement and industrywide development through a Symposium, poetry workshops, and street performances. We will publish a book in-conjunction with Eden Communities allowing community poets, and top tier talent to "rub shoulders with one another" on page and stage. The festival will also develop a core team of volunteers and offer senior management opportunities for future job creation.

What we'll deliver:

• 500 copies of the book
• A symposium of national importance
• a fantastic headline cultural event
• free workshops and invitations to take part for community members and schools

Why it's a great idea:

The Poetry Festival will give audiences of all ages the chance to discover, experience, and create poetry; showcasing top-tier talent alongside emerging poetry voices. Prior to the Festival, workshops for local school children. This experience will enable children to discover poetry in spectacular fashion - as writers, and performers. Workshops also for emerging local poets, many of whom have lacked access to training and guidance. This will culminate in a performance at the festival. We will provide bursaries to emerging poets and poetry nights from around the UK, covering travel, accommodation, and expenses. Organisers will be invited to bring their best talent, giving performers the opportunity to experience a large-scale industry event; and to build and sustain their careers and fulfil their potential. The Poetry Industry's lack of funded opportunities is a significant barrier to emerging poets. We will develop a volunteer group and a senior management team increasing opportuny

Steps to get it done:

• book the other UK poets (headliners are booked)
• start workshops
• print books

The Poetry Festival is part of an ecosystem of events and cultural programming which we have developed over the years with the Morecambe community. This funding will allow us further boost our local engagement, introducing even more of the public to poetry, and to our year round events programming. Our performers represent a vast spread of identities from across the poetry industry. We will platform leading female poets such as Carol Ann Duffy; BAME poets like Jackie Kay; LGBTQIA+ voices (Carol Ann Duffy, trans poet Gail Smith); disabled voices (Jackie Hagan, Des Mannay). Neurodiversity is represented by advocates like Connor Sansby, and our artistic director Matt Panesh. The Festival is set to inspire both the artists who are still developing their careers, and those at the top of their game. Artists will be speaking to audiences they represent, who, based on our last year’s event, are hungry for the words they bring. Our book will feature artists from all stages of their careers.