Poetry Residencies

The Wordsworth Trust, through funding it receives from Arts Council as a National Portfolio Organisation, is running a series of month-long poetry residencies between December 2018 and March 2019.

The residency offers an invaluable opportunity for exceptional poets, from any cultural background and writing within any literary tradition, to spend time in the heart of the , an area of outstanding natural beauty that so much inspired . You will have the opportunity to respond creatively to the Wordsworth Trust’s outstanding collection of manuscripts, books and fine art (see below), to engage with the Trust’s educational and outreach programmes, in and throughout , and to contribute to our HLF-funded project, Reimagining Wordsworth.

Background The Wordsworth Trust was founded in 1891 to maintain , in Grasmere, Cumbria, home of William Wordsworth during the period in which he wrote much of his greatest poetry. Dove Cottage is now an internationally famous visitor attraction, and the Trust’s collection is home to 90% of Wordsworth’s known verse manuscripts, one of the largest archive collections of a writer anywhere in the world. Wordsworth wrote of “youthful poets, who among these hills / Will be by second self when I am gone” and the Trust has sought for many years to link the creativity of the past with that of the present. Since 2012 we have been funded by Arts Council England, first as a Major Partner Museum and now as a National Portfolio Organisation (as part of the Cumbria Museum Consortium). Until 2015 we were an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation for contemporary literature.

The Residencies are taking place at a pivotal moment in the Wordsworth Trust’s history. In March 2018, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Trust a grant of £4.1 million for the delivery phase of ‘Reimagining Wordsworth’. Along with a grant of £495,000 from the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund and contributions from other major funders this puts the Wordsworth Trust on course to make profound and exciting changes to its site and activities. ‘Reimagining Wordsworth’ will enable more people, from a more diverse range of backgrounds, to discover Wordsworth’s poetry. Its completion will coincide with a nationwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wordsworth’s birth in 2020.

The Role The Wordsworth Trust is offering three residencies, each of a month’s duration. We are looking for poets who will actively engage with the ideas and poetry of the British Romantic movement and the landscape of the Lake District. We believe that Wordsworth’s poetry and ideas have a relevance to the way in which we live our lives today, but we are happy to engage with poets who seeks to challenge these ideas or bring a different (possibly urban) perspective to bear on this rural landscape. You will have the opportunity to actively engage with our educational and outreach work, and to respond creatively to our collection. In particular, you will have the opportunity to contribute to our Reimagining Wordsworth project. There will also be the opportunity to engage with other poets (for example though the Dove Cottage Poets writing group).

Terms and Conditions Each poet will be paid a fee of £1,750 for a one-month residency.

For the duration of your residency you will be provided with an atmospheric self- catering cottage opposite Dove Cottage in the heart of Town End.

The Wordsworth Trust will reimburse work-related expenses such as travel and materials.

Eligibility and Application Procedure Ideally you will have published a full-length collection with a reputable publisher, but poets with a pamphlet collection an