"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield" are the words every athlete will see before sprinting off on their journey towards the roaring crowds of the 2012 Olympic Games this summer.
It's the last line from Tennyson's Ulysses and will be inscribed along a wall of the Olympic Village, inspiring any and all who read it as they set off in hope of gold and glory.
The permanent installation of poetry at the Olympic Park is one of the central aspects of Winning Words (http://www.winningwordspoetry.com/) – a nationwide poetry initiative inspired by London 2012. But Winning Words also invites communities around the country to engage with poetry in new and dynamic ways, and to this end it is collaborating with a host of specially selected 'Beacon Towns' this summer.
From presenting poetry in exciting and innovative ways – think bringing the words off the page, literally – to encouraging community participation around poetry, Beacon Towns like Weymouth and Brecon are reaching out to encourage participation, celebration and creativity.
The value of that connection between the arts and our communities has been argued by countless directors and creative practitioners. It brings people from all walks of life together in something collaborative – it crosses all social and economic divides, cultures and classes so that local areas become stronger socially.
But what about our communities that aren't Beacon Towns? How can we embed poetry in local areas to bring people together and encourage creative collaboration?
What does a 'poetry town' even look like?
And what about our younger generations? Sir Andrew Motion's report, commissioned by the Arts Council in 2010, carefully explained how poetry is often seen as a "problem" for schools and a "bore" for many pupils – "outside schools it is often regarded as being on par with clog-dancing."
But he also added that poetry is "the form that puts us most deeply in touch with ourselves – that introduces us to ourselves – while it also connects us with the wider world."
In response to the Motion Report, Winning Words has created an online tool for young people to create poetry – The Generator. Poetry plays a particularly important role in the life of young people, so how can we inspire and educate the children in our communities about the power of words? How can we get them passionate about poetry?
Join us and an expert panel from 12pm on 11 June as we look to tackle these questions and more.
Panel
Winning Words is a national initiative conceived by William, founder of National Poetry Day, to incorporate poetry into the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – he has founded Forward Publishing, the Forward Poetry Prizes and Forward Thinking, a London-based NGO.
For many years he was a member of the Arts Council and chairman of its Lottery Committee – he is a published author and regular broadcaster. @winningpoetry
Lemn Sissay, Poet
Lemn is a playwright and poet, author of five poetry collections and his work has appeared in many anthologies. He is also trustee of World Book Night, trustee of the Forward Arts Foundation and patron of the Letterbox Club. @lemnsissay
Hannah Baker, manager, DepARTure
Hannah jointly manages DepARTure, the arts in education agency for Dorset delivering outcomes through the arts for children and young people. She has a background in visual arts with wide ranging experience working with children of all ages.
Cathey Morgan, education and outreach officer, Theatr Brycheiniog
Originally a teacher, Cathey has been education and outreach officer at Theatr Brycheiniog for the past eight years – prior to this she worked for Powys Library Service and an arts marketing organisation in the south Wales valleys.
Judith is director of the Poetry Society, which runs the National Poetry Competition and the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. The society also organises poet visits in schools, stages events around the the country and has 4,000 members nationwide of all ages. @PoetrySociety
Lucy Wood, education projects co-ordinator, The Poetry Society
Lucy has worked in arts education and outreach for over 10 years – at the Poetry Society she co-ordinates a programme of poet-led activity in schools and the UK's largest poetry prize for 11-17 year olds, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year. @PoetrySociety
Victoria has worked in the arts for 12 years (ADeC, Ways With Words and the Ledbury Poetry Festival) in arts development and festival management. @ledburyfest
Jo is director of National Poetry Day with a longtime involvement in Ledbury Poetry Festival, where she is trustee and which she co-programmed last year. @Jo_Bell
Graham is CEO of Poet in the City, an exciting and innovative venture philanthropy charity committed to attracting new audiences to poetry, making new connections for poetry and raising money to support poetry education. @PoetintheCityUK
Robert is a member of the senior management team at Apples and Snakes, England's leading organisation for performance poetry since 2007 – he is involved in developing artistic strategy with specific responsibility for marketing, finance and IT. @applesandsnakes
Maggie is founder of Public Art South West and www.publicartonline.org.uk – she is now running her own independent multidisciplinary public art agency.
Tom is a writer, editor, publisher, arts producer and the director of independent poetry press and live literature producing company Penned in the Margins – he also founded and ran London Word Festival 2008-11. @PennedintheM
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