Stanza Stones is a project run by Ilkley Literature Festival with Simon Armitage and is part of the imove strand of the Cultural Olympiad in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Simon Armitage will be writing a poem of six or seven stanzas (possibly a sestina) which will be carved onto stones and placed permanently into the Pennine Landscape in a poetry trail running from Ilkley to Marsden.

Alongside this, Simon will be working with six groups of young writers from the Yorkshire region to create new landscape poetry and work towards a performance at the opening of the Stanza Stones Trail. The groups will get the chance to have masterclasses with Simon, both in a classroom setting and within the Pennine Landscape. Each group will be partnered with another writing group and some of their sessions will be with this group.

Later in the project they will get a chance to work with another group who work in a different art form – eg . dance - who will work with them on an interpretation of the poetry they have produced.

The final performances will be filmed and will hopefully be shown on the big screens at Centenary and Millennium squares in Leeds and Bradford and elsewhere as appropriate. It is also hoped that representatives of the project will be able to take part in the 2012 Festival in London.

Calderdale Libraries are very excited to be running one of these six writers groups which will be called Calderdale Young Poets. We would like to invite you to become a member of Calderdale Young Poets and take advantage of this amazing opportunity.

Below you will find the relevant dates. It is obviously a big project and you may not be able to commit to taking part in the whole of it, but we are looking for young people who are serious about getting involved and would hope that you would be able to attend as many of the events and workshops as possible. Please consider carefully before making your decision.

If you are interested please fill in the form and return it to me as soon as possible at Central Library,
Northgate, Halifax, HX1 1UN.

Best wishes
Anna Turner
Reader Development Librarian

Dates

Calderdale Young poets will have regular meetings at Hebden Bridge Library
17th January 2011
Initial workshop with poet Andrew McMillan – 5-7pm
31st January 2011 – 7-9pm – Visit from Glenis Burgess from Stanza stones project to talk about the project
14th February 2011 – 7-9pm – Poetry workshop with James Nash

28th February 2011 – 7-9pm
14th March 2011 – 7-9pm
28th March 2011 – 7-9pm
11th April 2011 – 7-9pm
And hopefully fortnightly sessions during term time throughout the project.

March/April 2011
Two sessions away from home

1. Masterclass with Simon Armitage. Half day or evening session with partner group (Sheffield Young Writers) to be held in Sheffield.

2. Visit to Pennine Landscape with partner group and Simon Armitage, followed by workshop.
Half/full day.

May – July 2011
Group to work on their own landscape poems during group sessions

August 2011
Possible one or two day Summer School

September/October 2011
Group will make a new partnership with a group working in a different art form – eg. dance, film.

There will be a visit to this group at their base for an exchange of ideas and work. The partner group

will then work on interpreting the work of the poetry group

January/February 2012
The group will visit their partner group to view their interpretation of their poetry and to collaborate on a performance.

March 2012
Day away when everyone involved in the project meets to discuss and plan final performance.

April /May 2012
Rehearsals

June 2012
Full day of rehearsals and performance with Simon and musicians.