12 July 2016

The South West Poetry Tour is a new 5 day collaborative poetry initiative consisting of 5 nights of collaborative poetic performance by poets from Somerset (Bruton & Bath), Devon (Dartington) and Cornwall (St Ives & Falmouth). The Tour will involve over 60 poets connected to the region, commissioning over 50 new works during the course of the project.

Alongside 6 core touring poets – JR Carpenter, John Hall, Matti Spence, Annabel Banks, Camilla Nelson and SJ Fowler – the project features a large number of emerging and well-known poets local to each area.

The South West Poetry Tour offers a platform for emerging poets, who may only just be beginning to publish and perform their work, to perform and collaborate alongside more established writers and performers, to help build creative connections between different levels of experience.

Camilla Neslon, Creativity Works Volunteer Support Worker says:

The aim of the tour is to forge creative links between poets, artists, arts organisations and audiences locally and regionally. My work with Creativity Works has helped me expand these networks both on a professional and creative level and I am proud to be showcasing the work of several poets whose work I have come across as a direct result of my Creativity Works role. These poets are a mixture of Creativity Works’ facilitators, volunteers and peer group participants.

The South West Poetry Tour is an initiative that not only seeks to engage a large number of poets but to expand and grow poetry audiences across the region.

Having lived and worked in rural areas of southwest England (predominantly Cornwall, Devon and Somerset) for most of my writing life I have always found it a challenge to find the other poets living and working in the area.

As a writer there is no artist studio or gallery space as a central space in which to congregate, discuss work and make creative connections. Writing often happens in quiet spaces where you are on your own. These quiet spaces, free of the noise and distraction of other bodies are often deliberately sought out by writers in order to concentrate on their creations, but this isolation can be a double edged sword. The desire to reach out to other poets in the area, to build a social network between communities of poets and to link these communities up to form a stronger southwest poetry network is something I’ve been keen to do for a long time. With this idea in mind I approached SJ Fowler of Enemies Project fame to see if we could collaborate to bring about a collaborative poetry tour to link poets up across the region. Coming from southwest origins himself Steve was immediately keen.. and lo! The South West Poetry Tour was born.

Due to the generosity of independent donors we are also able to offer a £50 honorarium to all poets involved to help cover any expenses incurred during the development of their work. Providing financial support for poets taking part was another high priority of the project. I’d very much like to work on increasing pay for writers and artist on projects in the future.

Developing upon The Enemies Project Model, Enemies events are always dynamic and energising experiences open to all. The power of having two people performing on stage at once is always palpable and a great way of engaging with the poetic talent local to your region. Please come along to enjoy an evening of poetry with us.

The provisional schedule is:

1st August: St. Ives – Barbara Hepworth Museum, Tate St.Ives,  7-9pm
Barnoon Hill, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1AD http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives/barbara-hepworth-museum-and-sculpture-garden

Camilla Nelson & JR Carpenter
SJ Fowler & John Hall
Annabel Banks & Matti Spence
John Phillips & James Stallard
Evelyn Holloway & Crispin Williams
Harry Man, Lesley Hale, Lucy Linford, Luke Thompson, Nathan Thompson & many more poet pairs to be announced

2nd August: Falmouth (venue tbc), 7-9pm

Camilla Nelson & Annabel Banks
JR Carpenter & John Hall
SJ Fowler & Matti Spence
Sarah Cave & Anna Cathenka
John Canfield & David Devanny
Anna Kiernan & Andrew Fentham
Bram Arnold & Simon Persighetti
Duncan Yeates,  Archie Wilson & many more poet pairs to be announced

3rd August: Dartington – Schumacher College, 7-9pm
Old Postern, Totnes TQ9 6EA https://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/

Camilla Nelson & Matti Spence
Annabel Banks & John Hall
SJ Fowler & JR Carpenter
Steve Spence & Julian Isaacs
Mike Rose-Steel & David Sergeant
Ben Smith & Jos Smith
Matthew Carbery & Rosemarie Corlett
Tony Lopez & Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
Alisdair Paterson & many more poet pairs to be announced

6th August: Bath – Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 7-9pm
16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN http://www.brlsi.org/

Camilla Nelson & SJ Fowler
JR Carpenter & Annabel Banks
John Hall & Matti Spence
Matthew Robertson & Andres Anwandter
Carrie Etter & Claire Crowther
Fay Stevens & Alyson Hallett
Miranda Barnes & Jinny Fisher
Siegfried Baber & Isabel Galleymore
Tom Cook & Bart Breathnach
Lucy English & Paul Hawkins
Beverley Ferguson & Roz Mascall

7th August: Bruton – Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 5-7pm
Durslade Farm, Dropping Ln, Bruton BA10 0NL http://www.hauserwirthsomerset.com/

Camilla Nelson & John Hall
SJ Fowler & Annabel Banks
JR Carpenter & Matti Spence
Sam Playford Greenwell & Phil Owen
David Caddy & Andrew Henon
Annie Freud, Tilla Brading, Matt Bryden, David Davies & many more poet pairs to be announced

The full details of the tour can be found here: http://www.theenemiesproject.com/#/southwest/

The Enemies Project: South West is curated by Camilla Nelson and SJ Fowler and supported by Arts Council England, Tate St Ives, Falmouth University, Schumacher College, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, The Clearing, Trail Mix, SoundArt Radio, Somer Valley FM and Francis Boutle Publishers.