Since 2016, Bristol has had a City Poet to tap into public opinion and act as a communicator of local views. In July 2022 I was appointed Bristol’s fourth City Poet by a panel of five judges from Bristol’s cultural, civic and academic communities.
During my tenure, I wrote commissioned poems to mark events and occasions including the 75th Anniversary of Windrush Day, Bristol 650, World Book Night, and the general election. I worked with civic organisations including the Bristol Archives, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol Council, Bristol Libraries, and my performances included two State of the City Addresses, the Festival of the Future City, the Mayor’s final speech, and a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. As part of the role I also created work for community projects such as Alive’s dementia allotment project, and the Save St. Paul’s Dentist campaign, and ran Creative Community Mapping workshops with communities across the city, in partnership with Bristol Libraries and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
The role of the City Poet was founded and run by Bristol Ideas in 2016, in association with the Mayor’s Office, and since 2024 has been run by Lyra Bristol Poetry.Â
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Everything Comes from Somewhere was published by Lyra: Bristol Poetry Festival in 2024. It contains the collected commissions and other poems written as part of my role as the 2022-24 Bristol City Poet.Â