Participatory Programmes

Workshops, public programmes and community projects that invite people to write, speak, listen and create together.

Workshops

Poetry workshops for children, families, schools, communities, professional groups and public audiences.

A group talking and writing together around a large table during a workshop — the table, mid-poem

Programmes can explore

Place and belonging
Memory
Language
Identity
Nature and the environment
Collections and exhibitions
Celebration and ritual
A theme selected by the host

No previous writing experience is required unless the programme is designed for practising writers.

Collective poems

A room, neighbourhood or event contributes to a single evolving poem. Participants might add one word, complete a line, record a memory or respond to a shared question. Verseworks then shapes the contributions into a collective work.

Many people writing at the same time on a large wall covered in collective text — one poem, many hands

Community projects

Longer-form programmes developed with a particular community, place or organisation. Outcomes may include publications, performances, recordings, installations or permanent works.

Create a participatory programme