Thursday’s poetry round-up takes a look at the poet writing for 16 Days of Activism. We also take a look at what is something of an institution; the Faber and Faber Poetry Diary and finally the self-proclaimed “Poet Laureate of the North Pole”.

Poetry for 16 Days of Activism

This week, in conjunction with the worldwide observation of 16 Days of Activism, a movement against gender based violence (GBV), poet Robert Chiwamba will be releasing a poem and a video.

The poem “Taima” which was produced as part of an initiative for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), stands up for the fight against all forms of violence but in particular GBV, it celebrates and stands by women who work in any profession which is male dominated.

Chiwamba is an ambassador for STEP, Skills and Technical Education an initiative under UNESCO, he was appointed in May 2017. The role has involved visiting technical colleges to encourage vocational and entrepreneurial studies, amongst young people, especially girls and to encourage youngsters to break away from typical gender stereotypes.

The cause is one very close to the poet’s heart and he hopes that his contribution, although small, might go along way towards helping to give the campaign momentum. The 16 Days of Activism against GBV runs from 25^th November to 10^th December each year.

Poetry Diary 2018

If you are looking for a special poetry diary, the Faber and Faber 2018 diary is now available to purchase. The diary list started in the 1920’s, T. S Elliot was in charge of choosing the poetry, a role he took on for 4 years. Over the years the diary has gone from strength to strength and since the 1960’s each decade has seen the list of possible poets to choose from growing. In recent years the diary has included not just contemporary poets but also works from great poets with introductions from the contemporary poets they have inspired.

The diary s medium sized with a good amount of space to write in and of course each day includes an inspirational quote from poets such as William Blake, Ted Hughes, Percy Bysshe Shelley and W.B. Yeats.

Seasonal Poet

As we head into the holiday season there are plenty of seasonal jobs available for the taking, a poet from Denver has gone one better and created the perfect job.

Amy Marscheck, has possibly the best seasonal role; she is the self-proclaimed

The role, which includes the poets two favourite things; the holidays and poetry, entails going around and creating improvised poetry for anyone who is around to listen. Of course, once the holiday season is over Marscheck, will return to the Denver poetry circuit where she is well known.

Book Week Scotland

If you ever fancied combining poetry and food then the theme of this years Book Week Scotland, Nourish, fits the bill perfectly. The Week which celebrate all genres of the written word saw the combination of a live poetry reading and a cookery demonstration with “The Chef and The Poet”. which took place in the Scottish Poetry Library, with Scottish Poet Tom Pow and Neil Forbes, chef at the Café St Honore.