A Guide to Accessible Hybrid Literature Festivals using Kendal Poetry Festival as a Case Study
A practical guide for festival leaders on how to improve their accessibility practice using Kendal Poetry Festival as a case study. Commissioned by NAWE. Written and developed by Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University. With support from Kendal Poetry Festival staff and audiences.
The guide covers five principal areas, Hybrid Events and Festivals, Accessibility and Inclusion, Programming, Collaboration and Partnerships, and Project Management. It includes case studies, step-by-step guides, and reflections on learning from Kendal Poetry Festival 2022.
The aim is for a clear guide based on practical solutions for how to approach building and learning from what Kendal Poetry Festival experienced, supporting festivals looking to improve their practice.
This guide offers a model for working towards accessible practice as ordinary, not exceptional, in literary festivals.
This guide was written after in-depth interviews with the co-directors, other staff members, disabled artists and audience members. It speaks to a specific moment in time and does not aim to be the guide that speaks to everyone or everything, but we hope it will be a useful resource for festival organisers and event organisers in the poetry scene to ask themselves the right questions to improve accessibility in their practice.
Find out more and download the free pdf here
An audio version of this guide is currently in development.
If you would like to discuss the guide or respond to anything included in the guide, please email mailto:r.havers@mmu.ac.uk. We would particularly like to hear from organisers who want to use the guide.