Give Poetry a Chance! celebrates one-year anniversary with a published collection of poets’ work in support of Scouse Kitchen
Gazing up at a Glastonbury Festival poster with the words ‘Give Peace a Chance’ splashed across it, Daniel Cullinan could never have imagined in that moment just exactly what this seed of inspiration would germinate into only one year later.
Cullinan, from Maghull, had long been writing poetry since his days living in Vietnam but after that poster caught his eye, he began to post it online under a new alias- Give Poetry a Chance.
Soon after, David McTague (founder of Mellowtone Records) encouraged Dan to start up a monthly poetry night. Once The Jacaranda was confirmed as the hosting venue, posters beckoning local poets to perform were pasted across the city and on the 27th February 2019, the event was born.
This venue, steeped in early Beatles history, seemed a fitting nod to an event named after a John Lennon song.
Offering a safe, friendly and encouraging environment to perform and enjoy the spoken word, Give Poetry a Chance! grew exponentially, welcoming a diverse collective of poets from Liverpool and further afield. All ages, genders and backgrounds can be found here and that is the very beauty of it.
It seemed only logical then to collate this poetry into a published anthology to be launched, coinciding with the one-year anniversary on the 26th February 2020, hosted at The Jacaranda. Twenty-one poets contributed three poems each covering an expanse of topics including love, sex, loss, family, prejudice, politics and much, much more.
Daniel set about the labour of love six months in advance, of which he says, “There have been some highs and lows from the off but I’ve always reminded myself of why I set out to put the anthology together in the first place- to help bring our community together through raising awareness of homelessness. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had unbelievable support from other poets and the love of the Liverpool poetry community throughout the journey.”
All proceeds of the book sales will go to Scouse Kitchen, an organisation which meets every Wednesday at the Bombed Out Church to provide food for homeless people. We hope that in giving poetry a chance, we can also give those in need of a helping hand a chance.
Give Poetry a Chance! The Anthology will be launched on the 26th February 2020 and will be available to order online HERE.
By Laura Ferries (@lauraferrieswriter)
