Poetry Workshops and Coal Anthology
Join us to mark the 40th Anniversary year of the Miners’ Strike 1984-85, with one of our exciting poetry workshops.
The programme is organised by National Coal Mining Museum for England in collaboration with notable poetry publisher, The Poetry Business. A Coal Anthology will follow in the autumn, along with poetry readings during 2024-25.
Your poem, crafted in these workshops, has the potential to be chosen for inclusion in the Coal Anthology.
Sat 27 April – Community and Activism
* This Workshop is now Sold Out *
In person, suitable for ages 16+
Explore the relationship between words and action, with author Helen Mort. Discover how coal mining communities fought to retain their industry, with the support of other marginalised groups.
Please note: This workshop will take place underground.
Sat 25 May – Youth Arts Festival
In person, suitable for ages 11+
Join Matt Abbott to create a poem in response to the 84/85 – The Longest Year exhibition. We’re looking for young people’s perspectives to be included in our Coal Anthology and Youth Arts Festival on 6 July titled ‘Coal Camaraderie’.
Sat 22 June – Conflict and Comradeship
In person, suitable for ages 16+
Apart from fake news and the conflict which tore communities apart, the strike was a time for solidarity and community, ‘days of laughter and days of pain’. In this workshop led by Ian Parks, unearth these twin themes using primary sources.
More details on the Coal Anthology:
The Poetry Business is looking for poems about coal mining communities before during and after the strike. These can be new or already-published. Please submit up to six poems to office@poetrybusiness.co.uk, with Coal Anthology in the subject box.
Event heading image © Keith Pattison
