Poetry Hub
Winchester Poetry Festival is delighted to be curating a weekend of FREE poetry activities as part of Bournemouth Writing Festival 2025.
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Join us at The Bandstand on Sat 26th and Sun 27th April, 10am-5pm, for free drop-in activities inspiring wordplay and expression through poetry.
Suitable for all ages and abilities, and facilitated by experienced poets and writers.
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Please be aware access to the bandstand is quite hilly, and there is a step to access the bandstand. Volunteers will be available to help.
At A Glance - Saturday 26th April
All Day
Community Poem with Estelle Phillips
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10:30 to 12pm
Poetry zine-making with AJ Hardingson
3:30pm to 5pm
Poetry sharing session: theme of WATER with Susmita Bhattacharya
All Day
Poetry Vending Machine courtesy of the National Trust
1pm to 2:30pm
Poems of Protest and Empowerment with Write Beyond Borders
Full details below.
Subject to change - please keep an eye on social media channels.
At A Glance - Sunday 27th April
All Day
Community Poem with Estelle Phillips
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10:30 to 12pm
In Their Own Words: cut-up poetry with Damian Kelly-Basher
3:30pm to 5pm
Poetry sharing session: Our Nature in Nature with Pauline Rutter
All Day
Poetry Vending Machine courtesy of the National Trust
1pm to 2:30pm
Exploring Mindfulness Through Sound with Adriana Lord
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Full details below.
Subject to change - please keep an eye on social media channels.
Bournemouth Community Poem with Estelle Phillips
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th April
10am - 5pm
Free - all resources provided.
Whether you consider yourself a writer or poet, we want your words and thoughts about Bournemouth’s community. What do you like and love – what interests or even annoys you? Tell us your true feelings about Bournemouth’s unique seaside community. Come The Bandstand and share your thoughts in a giant Bournemouth Community Poem. Whatever you think, we want to know!
Estelle Phillips is an award winning performance poet and writer. Publications include "Motherhoodlum" (Jawbone) and "The Headless Horseman" (Cranborne Chase National Landscape/Chase & Chalke). Performances include The Royal Albert Hall and Southbank. Estelle’s work is published in the USA and UK.
National Trust's Poetry Vending Machine
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th April
10am - 5pm
Free (donations welcome)
Collect a free token, or make a contribution, to use at the Poetry Vending Machine, courtesty of the National Trust. Put the token in the machine to receive a tiny unique poem on the theme of Spring Emerging from local and national poets.
Poetry zine-making with AJ Hardingson
Saturday 26th April
10:30 - 12pm
​Free - all resources provided.
Be guided through some playful poetry exercises and learn how to make your own poetry zine – a simple way of turning a single piece of paper into a miniature book.
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At the start of the session, we’ll do some playful writing exercises around the idea of ‘Home’ to generate some words for our zines. Next, we’ll go over how to make and fold a zine, and explore how to combine our words with mixed media collage and/or artwork to tell a visual story. At the end of the session, you will have at least one poem or piece of writing and a small zine, A6 in size.
AJ Hardingson is a mixed-race, queer, poet, author and storyteller. A recent mentee of the Write Beyond Borders international literature development programme, AJ is currently working on a poetry project on belonging and ethnic diversity in the New Forest.
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Poems of Protest and Empowerment with Write Beyond Borders
Saturday 26th April
1pm to 2:30pm
​Free - all resources provided.
By protesting, we are expressing our beliefs. By resisting, we are bringing about change.
By empowering, we are giving everyone an equal voice. In this poetry workshop, we will explore how we can protest – eloquently, or powerfully. What are the things you want to protest about? It could be political, social, environmental – one could protest about the lack of poetry in schools or the lack of a future for children in war-torn countries. In this workshop, we would like to create a safe space to empower people to express themselves.
Write Beyond Borders is a digital mentorship and literature development project run by Susmita Bhattacharya and Aiysha Jahan, bringing together established and emerging authors of South-Asian origin from the UK and South Asia, offering an opportunity for knowledge exchange, skills development and creative collaboration.
Poetry sharing session: theme of WATER with Susmita Bhattacharya
Saturday 26th April
3:30pm to 5pm
​Free - all resources provided.
Susmita Bhattacharya will be reading her own unique poems on the themes of rivers, oceans, monsoon and rain - and invites you to do the same. If you have written poems inspired by water - we'd love to hear them! Please join us in this welcoming, low-pressure sharing session, hosted by Susmita.
Susmita Bhattacharya’s novel, The Normal State of Mind, was long-listed at the Mumbai Film Festival. Table Manners won the Saboteur Award for Best Short-Story Collection and was aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra. She mentors and runs creative workshops in the Solent region.
In Their Own Words: cut-up poetry with Damian Kelly-Basher
Sunday 27th April
10:30am to 12pm
​Free - all resources provided.
Come and have fun with words with Hampshire Poet - Damian Kelly-Basher. No experience needed. We’ll use simple, surrealist writing methods to find the poetry that is already in everyday texts and unlock our creativity too.
Damian Kelly-Basher is the Hampshire Poet 2024-26. He’s performed around the UK (including Royal Albert Hall, Edinburgh Fringe & WOMAD). Damian does creative projects & commissions for organisations. He worked in the NHS and is interested in mental health & climate change.
Exploring Mindfulness Through Sound with Adriana Lord
Sunday 27th April
1:30pm to 2:30pm
​Free - all resources provided.
A practical session to explore sound and mindfulness in your artistic practice with Adriana Lord.
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​Adriana Lord (she/her) is a singer-songwriter, writer, theatre performer and singing group leader. She uses her creative expression to entertain while opening people to connections and healing as well as raising awareness about social issues. She is the lead vocalist of Brighton-based Afro-Cuban bands Son Guarachando and LOKEBA.
Poetry Sharing Session with Pauline Rutter
Sunday 27th April
3:30pm to 5pm
​Free - all resources provided.
Pauline Rutter will be exploring “the Poetics of writing our nature in nature”, she will be reading her own poems that explore this theme - and invites you to do the same. If you have written poems inspired by being in nature - we'd love to hear them!
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Please join us at this low-pressure poetry sharing session hosted by guest poet Pauline Rutter.
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Pauline Rutter is a commissioned archival artist and poet developing a practice through Black feminist historiography and creative and nature-focused research. Her work calls in others to share on the themes of equity, community, social and environmental justice and futures.
Curated and run by the Winchester Poetry Festival
Supported by Arts Council England
We are a poetry organisation that does all sorts of things - from hosting our much-acclaimed biennial festival in Winchester, to our globally popular competition, to our wider work with schools and community organisations. We are here to share, showcase, celebrate and champion great poetry - because we believe in its power to bring us all together and make a positive, enriching difference to our lives and the society we live in.
We are a hub for poetry locally, nationally and internationally - from Winchester to the world.
Winchester Poetry Festival 2025 takes place 10-12 October at The ARC, with online and fringe events in the preceding week. Full programme to be announced in July.
