Two anthologies of poetry inspired by local independent museums have recently been produced by Leicestershire community publisher expresseum poetics press.
‘Circles’ and ‘Bringing in a Greater Yield’ present poetry inspired by collections at Lutterworth and Kegworth Museums.
These anthologies come out of a series of ‘Box of Props Poetry Workshops’ delivered by expresseum poetics, where participants were inspired by museum objects, things in boxes, and objects within ‘the giant box of a museum’.
Over two weeks, participants playfully collaborated within the museum space to generate poetic material. The museum space in which the creative work was generated was then transformed into a poetic ‘theatre’ for a spoken ‘page-to-air’ poetry performance, where the objects initially used as inspiration became scenery and props.
From these performances, the two poetry anthologies have been created. Both books feature the work of local poets who participated in the ‘Box of Props’ workshops and performances, and include photographs of the museum objects that acted as inspiration.
The workshops and anthologies were part of a Write Here poetry residency funded by Writing East Midlands and the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Forum.
The anthologies can be viewed and purchased at the following links. (Any profits from the sales will go to Lutterworth and Kegworth Museums.)
http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/4396174-circles-lutterworth-museum
http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/4639761-bringing-in-a-greater-yield-at-kegworth-museum
