Had some really good news this week. Harrow have continued my appointment as Community Poet until the end of 2015. So now we have plenty of time to keep up the impetus of encouraging Harrow residents to write and perform.

At the World Poetry Day competition finals in March, it was suggested that we hold an open mic session. I’m in talks with Carillion (who run the libraries) and I would recommend we have two separate sessions, one for under 16’s and one for adults. It wouldn’t be only poetry, but singers, musicians and even dancers would be welcomed. We’ll sort out the details in the next few weeks and probably entry forms will be in your local libraries later in the summer.

I may be giving a reading of my work in Stanmore library but this has still to be finalized. If and when I do, I hope you’ll come along and we can get to know each other.

So what do I want from you? Suggestions of how you would like poetry to be embraced by your community and we’ll do what we can to accommodate you.

An example is that a couple of Christmas’s ago, my poetry society went to our local shopping centre and read Christmas and Chanukah poetry for the shoppers. We gave out mince pies (Xmas) and donuts (Chanukah) and we attracted a large crowd who enjoyed the poetry almost as much as the food!

Shall we celebrate your own religious festivals in some way.  If you have any ideas, let me know and we'll see what we can do with publicity and support.

What about your local shopping centre? Would you like to put on some event? Perhaps we could organize it for you, if you send me your suggestions.

Would you like your school or workplace to hold an evening of poetry, showcasing your talent? 

Let’s work together and who knows what we can come up with. Certainly we have the ablility and now we have the opportunity, so let’s talk about putting our poets in the limelight and make 2015 the Year of the Poet!