Fenland Poet Laureate Competition Now Open!

Could you write a poem for Fenland?

Do you live, work or study in the Fens? Are you inspired by the bleak and beautiful landscapes and unique social history of this fantastic area? Could you be the next Poet Laureate for Fenland?

ADeC and Atelier East, working in partnership with Fen Speak and the Wisbech & Fenland Museum, are proud to announce the Fenland Poet Laureate poetry competition for 2014!

This is a chance for all writers from across the Fens to come together and share their poetry and help put Fenland on the creative map!

"The award has opened so many doors for me, and allowed me to provide opportunities for many more Fenland Poets. It's been a fantastic experience!" -- Leanne Moden, Fenland Poet Laureate 2013.

And best of all, it's free to enter the competition!

The Fenland Poet Laureate Judges are looking for poems that represent and relate to theme 'Fenland'. You can interpret the theme in any way you choose, and the team are really looking forward to reading your entries!

Winning the title of Fenland Poet Laureate is a great recognition of talent, as well as a fantastic opportunity to engage with your local community. The Laureate will be able to write about local events throughout the year and present poems for special occasions, working with others to develop ideas for bringing poetry to Fenland.

Awards:

• First, second and third places will be awarded to three of the poets in the adult (17+) category. 

• Commendations will be awarded to young poets (10-16) for entries, which the judges feel have particular merit. 

• Certificates of achievement will be given to all short-listed and commended entrants. 

• All short-listed and commended poets will be invited to the special Fenland Poet Laureate Awards evening on Wednesday 19th March at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum.

Deadlines for entry: 5pm on Friday 31st January 2014.

Conditions of Entry:

• Your poem should be no longer than 40 lines, and should be typed on a singleside of A4 paper. 
• Please write your age in the top right-hand corner of the page, but please do not write your name on your poem, as all poems will be judged anonymously. 
• All entrants must live, work, or study in the Fens. 
• We can only accept one poem per entrant, and this poem must be previously unpublished.

So, if you live, work, or study in the Fens, the Fenland Poet Laureate team would love to hear from you! Please send your poem, along with a cover sheet with your name, email address, telephone number, address, age group entered (16 & under, or 17+) and the title of the poem to:
Fenland Poet Laureate Competition
Babylon Gallery
Waterside
Ely, CB7 4AU

Alternatively, you can pick up an entry form from your local library. For further details, email info@adec.org.uk.

New Open Mic Night 'Fen Speak' starts in October with Venues in Ely and Wisbech

In association with the Fenland Poet Laureate Programme and Atelier East, and with support from ADeC, Elaine Ewart and Leanne Moden are starting up a brand new open mic poetry evening in North and East Cambridgeshire.

Fen Speak is a free spoken word open mic night designed to support and nurture local poets and writers, and help them develop their performance skills. It's a friendly and supportive space for people to read their poetry out loud, and Elaine and Leanne will be encouraging writers of all ages and abilities to have a go at performing their poetry!

Fen Speak events will be held every third Wednesday of the month, alternating between venues in Ely and Wisbech, and the first open mic night will be on Wednesday 16th October at the Babylon Gallery, Waterside, Ely CB7 4AU -meeting at 7:30pm for an 8pm start. There will be refreshments available, and there's absolutely not obligation to performance, so if anyone wants to come along to listen, that's absolutely fine. Elaine and Leanne hope to see you there!

PRESS RELEASE – YOUNG PEOPLE’S MUSEUM BOOKLET PROJECT

ART AND HISTORY COLLIDE AT THE WISBECH AND FENLAND MUSEUM

To launch the call for submissions for their latest project, the Young Curators’ Forum is proud to present a free creative workshop with Fenland Poet Laureate Leanne Moden and Lead Young Curator Brandon Mattless.

The project has been made possible with support from local arts organisation Atelier East and the Cambridgeshire based charity, Young Lives.

The workshop is suitable for adults and children over 11, and participants will be invited to use museum artifacts as a creative springboard, writing short stories, drawing pictures and composing poems based on their response to the objects and displays.

Leanne and Brandon will lead a series of activities designed to help get the creativity flowing, and there’ll also be plenty of time to look around the museum for inspiration.

The workshop runs from 10:00am to 12:00pm on Saturday 11th May at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Museum Square, Wisbech. Participation is free, but places are allocated on a first come, first serve basis, so please call the museum on 01945 583817, or email info@karen-harvey.co.uk to book your place.

The Young Curator’s Forum will also be putting together a booklet of creative work celebrating the Wisbech and Fenland Museum, and they’d like to hear from you.

Submissions can be in the form of poems, short stories or drawings, but all must be based on or inspired by the collections at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum. Adults and children of all ages are welcome to enter. Please send your submission to infor@karen-harvey.co.uk with your name, contact telephone number, and the name of the museum artifact that inspired you. The closing date for submissions is Friday 31st May 2013.

Guest Blog from Leanne Moden, Fenland Poet Laureate 2013

Performance Anxiety

If I could travel back in time and speak to my sixteen-year-old self, no doubt she would be horrified to learn that I perform poetry. In front of other people! On stage! Out loud!

I can see her blushing beetroot-red at the very thought of it.

Like many people, I spent much of my life as a closet poet. I wrote poetry and read poetry and enjoyed watching people perform their own poetry at events. But there was no way I was going to expose my poetry to the light of day. The closest I came to that was the work-shopping sessions in my creative writing group at university. Each Wednesday morning I would walk to class, dizzy with anticipation, knowing that we would be discussing one of my poems. And the thought of reading my work aloud? It made me feel physically sick.

So what changed?

Well, for me, it was a combination of several things: my nan died, I spent a bit of time out of work, and I moved away from home, all within the space of a year or so. This upheaval in my personal life gave me the shot in the arm that I so desperately needed. I decide that if I wanted to have a fulfilling life, I would need to go out and embrace every opportunity.

So I did.

When I was offered a five-minute open mic slot at a poetry cabaret night in Norwich in 2010, I jumped at the chance, even though the thought of getting up in front of people still terrified me. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.

As I read my first poem, I felt so nauseous that I genuinely thought I was going to be sick on my shoes! Perhaps, if that had happened, I could have explained it away as performance art? Who knows.

I've now been performing for two years. I've worked with some incredible people and done some amazing things. I've recited poems in the back rooms of pubs, performed in tents at festivals, and competed in a poetry slam on stage at the Roundhouse in Camden. I worked alongside the likes of Steve Larkin, Richard Tyrone Jones, Hollie McNish, Fay Roberts, Young Dawkins, Mark Niel, and the actor Miriam Margolyes. I've collaborated with some very talented people, worked on fantastic projects, and made some wonderful new friends.

But I still get nervous before every performance.

This year, as Fenland Poet Laureate, I'm hoping to give other closet poets the opportunity to engage more actively with poetry, through a series of local workshops and events. I want to spread my own enthusiasm for poetry and foster a supportive environment in which local people can experiment with poetry. I really believe that poetry should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background, education or level of confidence. With the support of Karen Harvey at Atelier East, Poet Laureate Emeritus Elaine Ewart, and David Wright at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum, I hope to promote poetry in the Fens and work with other organisations to bring local poetry firmly into the mainstream.

Just as long as my nerves don't get the better of me!

Leanne Moden is the Fenland Poet Laureate 2013.

You can find her on twitter @crimsonebolg and you can check out her blog at www.tenyearstime.blogspot.co.uk

If you would like Leanne to write a poem to celebrate a Fenland community project, or if you are interested in booking her for your own event, please email info@atelier-east.co.uk.