Click here to hear the audio version of ‘About Remembering What’s Forgotten’.

Remembering What’s Forgotten has launched a new poet in residence opportunity for Leeds-based, emerging poets of black and South Asian heritage who wish to explore and centre lived experience narratives of mental ill health and amplify the importance of racial and social justice.

An eight-week residency, supported by a bursary, the role is open to Leeds residents with lived experience, of all genders and ages, from 18+, to produce an original piece of work.

A collaboration between Synergi-Leeds, Words of Colour, poet, theatremaker and artistic director Khadijah Ibrahiim and Heritage Corner, the project is funded by the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence has been created in response to the over-representation of black and South Asian men detained under the Mental Health Act and as in-patients in psychiatric wards, in Leeds – and nationally.

The poet in residence will be selected by Joy Francis, Remembering What’s Forgotten’s Project Manager and co-founder of the Poets of Colour Incubator for the North of England, and Khadijah Ibrahiim, poet, Artistic Director of Leeds Young Authors and curator of Beyond the Bassline at the British Library (Leeds).

The residency is being supported by Remembering What’s Forgotten project allies New Writing North and Manchester Poetry Library, with support from Touchstone.

The poet in residence will receive a residency induction and have access to a range of narratives, individuals and organisations connected to the Remembering What’s Forgotten programme to inform their work in progress.

Click here to hear the audio version of ‘What the poet in residence will do and what support they will receive’.

Click here to hear about the Virtual Information Session to be hosted on Tuesday 30th July 2024 

The poet in residence will be commissioned to produce an original piece of work informed and inspired by the narratives collected for the Remembering What’s Forgotten project.

The successful candidate will receive a residency induction and have access to mentoring, individuals and organisations connected to the Remembering What’s Forgotten 12-month programme to inform their work in progress.

As part of the residency, the poet will receive:

• a £2,500 bursary as funded time, space and travel to develop their work
• a Creative Entrepreneurship masterclass with Words of Colour
• access to studio space (courtesy of Khadijah Ibrahiim)
• career signposting and advice from New Writing North
• workshops and talks at Manchester Poetry Library
• an opportunity to discuss their work in progress at the Remembering What’s Forgotten preview event at Leeds Playhouse on Monday 23^rd September 2024.

The final commissioned piece will be featured as a legacy poem on the official Remembering What’s Forgotten digital exhibition platform at the end of October 2024.

Virtual Information Session

Click here to hear about the Virtual Information Session to be hosted on Tuesday 30th July 2024 

If you’d like to find out more about the Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence opportunity and have any questions about the application process, you can book a place on our virtual Information Session for Tuesday 30th July from 1pm-2pm on Zoom. Book your place here.

Click here to hear the audio version of ‘Eligibility’.

1. Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence is for talented and emerging artists from black and South Asian backgrounds, of all ages from 18 upwards, who are resident in Leeds.
2. To apply, you must be an emerging poet from a black or South Asian background with lived experience of a mental health issue, whether you have accessed mental health services or not.
3. The term ‘emerging’ refers to early career poets with a minimum of two years committed poetry practice.
4. The residency is open to all poetry forms, including spoken word, interdisciplinary poets, and those who work with new media or have visual or participatory practices.
5. If you are unpublished, self published, had a chapbook published or had a poem appear in an anthology, then you are eligible to apply.
6. If you have had a full collection of poetry published, been commissioned or produced a full 40 minute or more live show, you are not eligible to apply.
7. If you are in full or part time education you are not eligible to apply.
8. This programme encourages applications from those who wouldn’t normally consider applying for development opportunities.

For more information, look at our FAQs section below.

Click here to hear an audio version of ‘How to apply’.

Click here to complete the monitoring form.

Submit your CV and examples of your work

1. A cover letter (no more than one page of A4) explaining why you are applying for the Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence; what difference the residency would make to your poetry practice, storytelling and relationship to or knowledge of the topic; and what you want to explore about the city of Leeds.
2. Your CV (up to two pages) outlining your poetry journey, credit list and any relevant work experience or examples highlighting an interest in the main themes of the residency.
3. Please include three examples of your work either as text (copy and paste and titled) or as a weblink. Any weblinks to sound files or video links need to be hyperlinked.
4. Your CV and examples of your practice need to be presented as (and within) one document and sent as one file only. We will not accept multiple files or a folder.
5. There is a 10 MB limit. Allowed file types are rtf, doc, docx, pdf. If a video or sound link is password protected, please use the password ‘RWFpoet’ so we can access it.
6. We can only view up to 10 minutes of video footage or audio per application.
7. If you supply a link to an example of your work, please ensure the link doesn’t expire and the content isn’t moved before the end of the application process.
8. Please complete the monitoring form which you can access here.

Submitting your application

Please email your application and monitoring form to [email protected] using the subject line: ‘RWF poet in residence application’.

DEADLINE: Has been extended to midnight on Wednesday 14th August 2024.

If you need any reasonable adjustments to be made for you to complete the application and/or to attend an interview in person or online, please email [email protected].

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview.

All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application, but we regret we will be unable to offer feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Please note: We will not view your website as part of this application.

Information Session

If you’d like to find out more about the Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence opportunity and have any questions about the application process, you can book a place on our virtual Information Session for Tuesday 30th July from 1pm-2pm on Zoom.

You can find out more about Remembering What’s Forgotten on this website.

Click here to hear about the audio version of ‘Selection process and timeline’.

Applications will be assessed on:

• The potential of the residency to creatively and positively impact on your practice/career.
• How the residency will benefit and amplify your idea(s) for the commission and increase your understanding of mental health inequalities and racial and social justice.
• The quality of your poetry and creative practice.
• Your interest in and / or commitment to the aims and objectives of Remembering What’s Forgotten.

Application timeline – key dates (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Closing date for applications: Has been extended to midnight on Wednesday 14th August 2024.

Interviews conducted: 22nd and 23rd August 2024

Successful and unsuccessful candidates are notified: By Tuesday 27th August 2024

Poet in Residence starts: Week commencing 2nd September 2024

Residency completed: Monday 28^th October 2024

Click here to hear the audio version of ‘Why the poetry residency is being launch’.

Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence has been co-produced as a creative response to a range of research on mental health inequalities that show:

• Black people are four times more likely than white people to be detained under the Mental Health Act.
• Black and minority ethnic people are 40% more likely to access mental health care via the criminal justice system than white people.
• Black and minority ethnic people are less likely to access primary care support, through their GP and more likely to end up in crisis care.

With regards to the field of poetry, independent reports since 2004 reveal the lack of diversity and inclusion for writers of colour in Britain, including:

• Poets of colour being less likely to apply for development opportunities.
• Having limited access to mentoring.
• British poetry ‘failing to meet even the most basic measurement of inclusivity’ and being exposed to ‘systemic exclusion’, according to a 2020 study by the Ledbury Poetry Critics.

The residency allows creative space and development for a poet with lived experience from the groups and communities disproportionately affected and impacted by mental health inequalities.

Click here to hear the audio version of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Can poets who live outside of Leeds apply?  

For this programme, poets must Leeds residents to apply.

Do you have to pay a fee to apply?

No, there is no fee to apply for the Remembering What’s Forgotten poet in residence.

Do you have to be a published poet to apply for the residency?

The residency is for emerging poets with at least two years of poetry practice experience, including live performance such as open mics. If you are unpublished, self published, appeared in an anthology or produced a chapbook you are eligible. You will not be eligible to apply if you have been commissioned by a mainstream or independent publisher to produce a collection of poetry or if you have been commissioned to produce a full performance (40 minutes or more).

What is the time commitment required for the residency? 

The residency is organised to be adaptable, including virtual/online meetings.  The residency is arranged to enable the poet to have reflection, writing and research time to produce an original piece of work.

Can I apply if I’m a full time or part time student?

Full time or part time students are not eligible for this residency due to already receiving education and learning support and having academic and/or vocational commitments which may put them at a disadvantage on an eight week residency which requires flexibility and a commitment to producing a new piece of work. This residency is an opportunity for an emerging poet to develop and explore an idea to full commission.

What are you looking for from an application?

We are looking for poets who welcome the opportunity to be able to work in a destigmatising way in safe spaces where their lived experience is honoured, having space to engage with the material and produce work through their own lens.

They will also want to develop or build on their community of practice, are willing to connect with the wider community and have a clear interest and commitment to raising awareness of mental health and racial and social justice.

Why is the residency only for black and South Asian candidates?

The primary reasons have been highlighted repeatedly through 40+ years of research showing continued racial disparities and the negative impact of structural and systemic racism and discrimination, which disproportionately impact Black and South Asian men, including:

• Black people are four times more likely than white people to be detained under the Mental Health Act.
• Black and minority ethnic people are 40% more likely to access mental health care via the criminal justice system than white people.
• Black and minority ethnic people are less likely to access primary care support, through their GP and more likely to end up in crisis care.

With regards to the field of poetry, independent reports since 2004 reveal the lack of diversity and inclusion for writers of colour in Britain, including:

• • Poets of colour being less likely to apply for development opportunities.
  • Having limited access to mentoring.
  • British poetry ‘failing to meet even the most basic measurement of inclusivity’ and being exposed to ‘systemic exclusion’, according to a 2020 study by the Ledbury Poetry Critics.

The residency enables people from these groups with a variety of lived experience to respond to material and narratives that reflect the cultural and lived experience of the groups disproportionately represented in mental health services.