Poetry for All was conceived in 2017 by Rose Drew after a search for fully accessible poetry events suitable for people with sensory impairments came up with very little. With typical passion and determination, she pursued the support and people needed to make such a thing happen in her home town of York, and Poetry for All was born on 24th March 2018.
The first event took place in St Clements Hall, York, as part of York Literature Festival, and was hosted by Rose and Fay Roberts. The event featured Raymond Antrobus and Deaf Firefly, with support artists including Becca Miles, Imogen Godwin, Alan Gillott, HA Thorpe, Marina Poppa, and Kit Rayne, with livewire BSL interpreting from Dave Wycherley. The text of the poems was projected onto a large screen behind the performers. We received local funding to help make this happen.
‘I attended the first Poetry for All event in 2018 and found it eye-opening, both as a disabled poet being given the space and the support to perform my work and as an audience for the work of others. For me, poetry is about finding ways to say things when non-poetic language isn’t enough, so opening up the medium to more kinds of communication is a win for artists and audience members alike.’
– Becca Miles, Writer and Artist
The second event took place in York Unitarian Chapel, again as part of York Literature Festival, on 14th March 2019, and was again hosted by Rose and Fay. The event featured Deaf Firefly and Jackie Hagan, with support artists including Imogen Godwin and Colly Metcalfe, with elegant BSL interpreting from Vicci Ackroyd and text projection. We received local funding to help make this happen.
‘A bloody brilliant night – the most accessible and thoughtful poetry evening in York. I had the honour of performing a few years ago at the first event and was flabbergasted by the talent and the level of dedication of Rose and her team’
– HA Thorpe, writer and performer
And then March 2020 rolled around and exploded all our hopes for the next couple of years as we strove to make sense of staging live literature and performance art, especially with the difficulty of finding ways to be safer for people with disabilities and chronic illness.
Undaunted, we returned in November 2022 to a brand-new venue for us – the gorgeous National Centre for Early Music, York. The event featured Kiran Wade and Colly Metcalfe, with support from Tanya Parker, Joanne Foxton, Alan Gillott, and Kate Jenkinson, this time interpreted by both Dave Wycherley and Vicci Ackroyd. Funding came from Make it York.
‘Poetry for All is part of the York Disability Week 2023 programme. An important aspect of the week is to promote accessibility in the arts – for performers, audience members, technical staff – just as in other walks of life. Our aim each year to promote an equal, inclusive and accessible York and Poetry for All captures so well just what that is all about.’
– Marilyn Crawshaw, Chair of York Disability Week planning group
And the next Poetry for All will take place in the NCEM again on 24th November 2023. Check out the Events page for more details.
Poetry For All 