Welcome to the new look London Poetry Festival!

(The 5th Annual London Poetry Festival: 7th - 10th August 2009)

WELCOME TO THE NEW LOOK LONDON POETRY FESTIVAL
Thanks for visiting the London Poetry Festival blog! If you're here, chances are you're interested in learning a little about our Festival -- maybe you want to come along, get in touch or just find out a little bit about us and what we do.

The London Poetry Festival is an annual four-day event designed to showcase the best contemporary writing the UK has to offer. It was founded in 2004 by writer, critic and editor Munayem Mayenin, but as of this year there's a brand new team behind the event, with Edinburgh-based poet and editor Claire Askew and London-based poet Sharon Harriott at the helm. We want to make the new-look, five-year anniversary London Poetry Festival the best there's ever been, and we're hoping it will pave the way for many successful years to come!

OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The London Poetry Festival is totally not-for-profit and all our staff are volunteers, working at and facilitating the Festival through a love of the written word and a genuine desire to promote the work of great poets, writers, artists and musicians.

We aim to provide a platform from which any poet can raise their voice and deliver their personal message -- we welcome young and emerging poets who have only just begun their journey into writing, but also experienced poets who have been producing and publishing work for many years.

The London Poetry Festival's four-night programme showcases an array of fantastic poetry, writing and music. We provide an extensive bookshop and merchandise table from which poets are welcome to sell their work and keep 100% of the takings. A small admission fee (more details here) is charged to cover our venue costs, but the Festival is not-for-profit and any profits made would be handed over to the poets themselves.

Each year the London Poetry Festival provides five poetry residencies for poets whose work has really caught our eye -- individuals we particularly want to support and encourage in taking their writing to a wider audience. (You can find details of these Residencies -- including information about this year's Poets in Residence as well as those from previous years -- here on the blog and at the London Poetry Festival website).

The London Poetry Festival also aims to liaise and work with arts and education projects and establishments across London and the UK to promote great poetry and seek out fantastic new writing.

CONTACT US

Want to get on board and help support the Festival, help us spread the word or obtain special entry to our events (such as a Media Pass)? Get in touch with our PR Director Sharon Harriott: sharon.harriott@londonpoetryfestival.com

Interested in reading at the Festival, getting more information on our poets or finding out more about our Residencies? Email our Residency and Education Director Claire Askew: claire@onenightstanzas.com

You can also email contact@londonpoetryfestival.com for more general enquiries.