Byker Communty Trust
When: 05.08.2019 to 09.08.2019
Where: Newcastle
The Byker Wall Estate is a Grade II*listed housing estate in Newcastle upon Tyne. Overseen by our partners at Byker Community Trust, it hosts a diverse and thriving community; in 2018 it won the Academy of Urbanism ‘Great Neighbourhood’ award for UK and Ireland. Places of Poetry is working with Northern Stage and Seven Stories on a variety of poetry led activity this summer.
Seven Stories is going into Byker Primary and St Lawrence's RC Primary School to work with groups from Year 4 as part of Places of Poetry's school week (1 - 7 July 2019). During August Director and writer Lee Mattinson will be working with Northern Stage Associate Director Louie Ingham and young people. Louie will lead a weekly creative session with Lee and the young people creating poetry which might be audio, written or spoken (depending on what the group want to do). Using this workshop as inspiration Lee will write a poem which he will present to the group the following week. The young people will be given the opportunity to edit and add to the poems as the weeks progress making the process accessible to new participants on a weekly basis but also offering progressive participation to those who return each week.
In addition poet Rowan McCabe and Community Centre Volunteer Stephen Sheraton will be working with different groups within the community to co-create poems which capture the stories, ideas and opinions of Byker residents.
