New Poets Collective
Our annual year-long workshop series helping to nurture and develop emerging poets yet to publish their first collection
Our New Poets Collective is a collaboration between the Southbank Centre’s Talent & Artist Development department, Literature team and the National Poetry Library, generously supported by the TS Eliot Foundation.
Launched in 2021 and co-facilitated by poets Vanessa Kisuule and Will Harris, this free, year-long scheme has so far nurtured and developed four cohorts comprising poets from across the UK.
New Poets Collective, 75th edition
To celebrate the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary, we’re delivering a unique edition of the New Poets Collective with outreach at its core called A Poet in Every Port.
We did not do an open call-out as in previous years. Instead, we have partnered with organisations and venues across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to recruit poets from ten specific locations identified in homage to the touring exhibitions of the Festival of Britain in 1951.
This new collective will be mentored by Kisuule and Harris over an extended two-year period to develop their confidence and hone their writing, performance and facilitation skills. They’ll participate in intensive writing retreats, attend virtual and in-person workshops, and have opportunities to perform both at the Southbank Centre and in their home regions.
The New Poets Collective will re-open for applications, as per previous years, in 2027.
‘We’re so proud of all of the poets, of their talent and achievements, curiosity, willingness to push beyond their comfort zones, and the support and generosity of spirit that they continue to show one another’
Sophie Ransby, Southbank Centre Creative Engagement Producer, of the poets who have taken part so far.
Meet the Tutors
Vanessa Kisuule is a writer and performer based in Bristol.
Will Harris is a writer of Chinese Indonesian and British heritage, born and based in London.