Poet sought to celebrate London charity funder in verse

LONDON’S biggest independent charity funder is on the hunt for a budding bard to wax lyrical about its bridges and its funding work.

City Bridge Foundation, which maintains five bridges leading into the City of London at no cost to the taxpayer, is recruiting its first-ever poet-in-residence.

The successful applicant for the unique role will be expected to regularly visit Tower, London, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars bridges to draw inspiration for their work.

They will also celebrate in verse the 900-year-old charity’s role in awarding over £30 million a year to projects across the capital, and the work of its funded organisations.

The poet-in-residence scheme, launched on World Poetry Day, sees the foundation team up with The Poetry Society – the leading voice for UK poetry at home and abroad.

Giles Shilson, City Bridge Foundation chairman, said:

“For hundreds of years, our bridges have been central to the story of London during its happiest and its darkest moments, yet tributes to them in verse are surprisingly scarce.

“Our new poet will celebrate the bridges’ long history, their relationship with the city and the river and the vital role they play in the day-to-day life of modern Londoners.

“The job is, as far as we know, the only one of its kind anywhere and is a way of celebrating our bridges and our funding work, while supporting and promoting poetry as a modern, vibrant, culturally relevant art form.”

The role is open to published poets of any style who either live in London or are able to regularly travel to the capital to frequent the five bridges and visit some of the charities funded by the City Bridge Foundation.

The Poetry Society is the UK’s national organisation for poetry and will support the foundation in advertising for, selecting and managing the poet in residence.

It is an expert at working with poets at all stages of their careers, whether publishing new writing by top names in its influential magazine The Poetry Review, organising residency schemes and new commissions, or encouraging new generations of young poets in schools or through talent development schemes.

Judith Palmer, Poetry Society Director, said:

“We’re delighted to be working with City Bridge Foundation to create this fantastic opportunity for a poet-in-residence at London’s iconic bridges.

“Poets have a unique ability to distil the essence of what makes a place special and to guide us to pay attention to familiar places in new ways. For centuries, the bridges of London have captured the public imagination, inspiring some of our most beloved songs and works of literature.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to bring their history and current character to life through poetry. The poet will work with communities around the bridges to capture in poetry what the landmarks mean to them, as they build up an exciting contemporary picture of the city’s bridges.”

More information about the role and details of how to apply can be found at: www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/poetry or https://poetrysociety.org.uk/projects/city-bridge-poet-in-residence.