Poetry Wales Editor Vacancy

Poetry Wales is seeking a new editor following the announcement that Zoë Skoulding will retire after seven years in the role. If you have a vision for one of Britain’s leading poetry magazines – its content, delivery and marketing – Poetry Wales would like to hear from you. Your first issue will be an historic one – vol. 50 no. 1, due to be published in June 2014.

Founded in 1965, Poetry Wales is a quarterly magazine with an international reputation for excellent poems, features and reviews from Wales and beyond. Emerging from a rich bilingual culture, Poetry Wales explores the diverse perspectives of Welsh poetry in English and its international relationships.

Its interest in translation, and in local and national identities in a global context, are at the forefront of some of the most exciting developments in poetry today. The magazine is open to tradition and experiment, publishing poetry from a wide range of approaches. Against this background of dynamic contrast, it offers a lively and informed critical context for the best contemporary poetry.

Deadline for applications: Saturday 31st August 2013.

For further information email: mickfelton@serenbooks.com

www.poetrywales.co.uk

Wanted - London Poets and UK Artists!

A new project for 2013. 

Jaybird Live Literature and Southbank Centre are planning a large scale poetry commissioning project for Summer and Autumn 2013.

They are going to find one poet connected to each of London's 33 boroughs* and ask them to create a new poem inspired or provoked by that borough.

They will then introduce each poet to an artist (visual, theatrical or digital) who will interpret the new poem and send it out into the world: launching it from a relevant borough location, from a space in Southbank Centre as part of the 2013 Neighbourhood Festival, and from the web.

They need poets, one of them connected to every London borough. Poets can be well established or just starting out, they can write in English or other languages, they can be native or adopted Londoners, they can be page or performance poets - but they must be able to respond to a specific commission creatively and professionally. It is unlikely that we will select poets who are still unpublished beyond magazine level, or who have as yet only given a couple of performances. A poet's connection with a borough may be that s/he lives /d there, was born there, works/ed there or experienced some genuinely significant life event there. (What's my borough? Check here.)

They need artists who can work imaginatively with text, whether visually, theatrically or digitally. They must be UK based, but they do not need to be London based. Artists can be individuals, partners or collectives, they can be well established or just starting out - but they must be able respond to a specific commission creatively and professionally and create an interpretation of an existing poem which is sympathetic to the qualities of that poem, and which is conceptually and / or physically robust. We are unlikely to select artists with no track record of delivering similar work.

If you can project a giant poem in light up the side of a wall, if you can make a poem grow in moss graffiti, if you can send a poem in morse code to search for extra terrestrial life (or similar!) we'd like to hear from you. We are looking for performances, happenings, large and small-scale installations, takeaways ... whatever delights us. Please bear in mind that while some interpretations will have a budget of £1,000s, most will have budget of £100s. We need your ideas and skills to carry our newly commissioned poems into the hearts of Londoners throughout 2013.

This new project will be managed by Julia Bird of Jaybird Live Literature; and Bea Colley, Participation Producer at Southbank Centre and one of the organisers of Poetry Parnassus in 2012.

How to Recommend ...
Poets and poet recommenders: please email Julia and Bea at 33boroughspoetry@gmail.com with your / the poet's name, your / their borough if you know it, and a link to your / their website or online presence. We do not need detailed CVs or suggestions at this stage, just enough information to be able to follow up if we choose. Please title your email 'Poet Recommendation'.

Artists and artist recommenders: please email Julia and Bea at 33boroughspoetry@gmail.com with your / the artist's or collective's name and a link to your / their website or online presence. We do not need detailed CVs or suggestions at this stage, just enough information to be able to follow up if we choose. Please title your email 'Artist Recommendation'.

A more detailed brief will be provided for poets and artists who are selected to take part.

All recommendations must be received by 18th February 2013.

The delivery of this project will take place in three stages over Summer and Autumn 2013 and the poets and artists we select will be notified within plenty of notice of any commissioning deadline. Because of the expected volume of recommendations, we will probably not be able to respond individually to the poets and artists we don't select. Details of the selected poets and artists will be announced on this website.

Please note 1: Organisers are expecting to receive many more recommendations than there are opportunities. Between them, Jaybird and Southbank Centre manage many poetry-related projects so all individuals will be borne in mind for possible future projects even if they are not selected to take part in this one.

Please note 2: This project depends in part on a successful Arts Council England funding bid. The poets' and artists' commissions will be paid opportunities, but no-one will be officially commissioned until the funding is in place.

* 32 boroughs, plus the City of London

Source: The Poetry Library

Get Into Reading Project Worker, The Reader Organisation

This is a dynamic and varied job requiring you to promote, set-up, establish and facilitate a weekly Get Into Reading group in order to promote well-being and good mental for offenders/ex-offenders in the PD PIPE. You will be responsible for choosing and presenting a wide range of reading material, including poetry, and for generating free-flowing conversation as well as for addressing literary questions group members may have. You also need the confidence and enthusiasm to sell the reading for pleasure project to people for whom that may be a new and strange idea. The project worker will work at: • HMP Gartree, Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

How to Apply
Please visit www.thereader.org.uk click on the ‘About Us’ tab and scroll down to ‘Job Opportunities’ to view the full job description and download an application form. Please complete the application form and submit a covering letter, explaining how you meet the requirements and fit the person specification (not more than 1 side of A4 please) to Michelle Barrett at michellebarrett@thereader.org.uk

Deadline for applications: 5.00pm 15th January 2013. Please note: applications arriving after this deadline will not be considered. Shortlist by 17th January 2013. Please make sure your contact details include a phone number by which The Reader can contact you if you are called for interview. Interviews will take place on 23rd January 2013 at The Reader Organisation, The Friary Centre, Bute Street, L5 3LA.

Please make all enquiries to www.thereader.org.uk.