Women Poets’ Prize and National Centre for Writing launch new one-day festival

The Women Poets’ Prize and the National Centre for Writing have launched a new one-day autumn festival, with a programme featuring writers such as Helen Mort, Sophie Herxheimer and Victoria Adukwei Bulley.

Taking place on 19th November at the National Centre for Writing (NCW) in Norwich, organisers say the new festival will be a fully hybrid event, in which “a specially curated digital space will provide an equally excellent experience for remote attendees”, facilitated by spoken word and multimedia artist Paula Varjack.

BSL interpreters, live captions on all digital content and childcare bursaries will be available, as well as play spaces for inspiration and connection, facilitated by poet and artist Herxheimer, and guided meditation in the morning led by Roz Goddard.

Workshops on offer include a session on creating a poetry project, held by Victoria Adukwei Bulley, a previous project manager for the prize whose debut collection Quiet was recently published by Faber. 

Mort will also be giving a talk on pagecraft, while Debris Stevenson a writer, dancer, MC and actor, will lead a session on incorporating the body and movement into writing practice.

Kirsten Luckins, project manager at the Rebecca Swift Foundation, which founded the prize, said: “It’s a pleasure and a privilege to work with the National Centre for Writing, whose stunning venue promises to bring a real sense of occasion to a very special day for delegates and prize-winners alike. We’re excited that together we can provide a top quality, accessible experience for women poets attending both in-person and online."

The three 2022 winners of the prize will be announced live at the festival by this year’s judges Penelope Shuttle, Abi Palmer and Nikita Gill. Each will receive a £1,000 cash prize, as well as one-to-one mentoring and coaching from The Literary Consultancy, workshops with Faber & Faber, performance coaching with national spoken word charity Apples & Snakes and more.

Submissions for the 2022 prize, which is free to enter, are open until 12th August. A shortlist will be announced on 14th October.

Gill said: “Poetry is the language of the heart and of truth. And I believe that poets are the emotive historians of humankind – it is the duty of poets to record history through emotions and perspectives often not seen in libraries full of history books. I’m looking for work that moves, surprises and holds us entranced in the moment. I am looking for core memories and stories told through verse that change the reader’s lens.”