Blog
New Collection – It’s Honorary, Bab
It was quite an odd thing to be Poet Laureate of the City of Wolverhampton in the middle of a global pandemic. It’s safe to say that my laureateship didn’t go quite to plan. After somebody said to me ‘What a shame, you didn’t manage to do anything.’ I thought I better try and justify my position and I went
Constitutional – a new collaboration with Brad Purshouse and Graham Peet
During lockdown early in 2020 Poet Laureate for the City of Wolverhampton, Emma, and her Dad, Brad Purshouse, created a book of pictures and poems. Brad took photographs on his daily exercise walks around Bantock Park, and Emma created examples of Japanese style tanka poems to go with each one. “It was a great way of keeping connected with each
Emma Purshouse acts as a guide to Black Country Poetry for BBC Radio 4 programme
Tune in on Sunday 6th September at 4.30pm or Saturday 12th September at 11.30pm. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mbq5
Art Gallery exhibition on the theme of home
I was asked to write a poem from luggage tags left in the exhibition space at Wolverhampton Art Gallery for the ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Wolverhampton and Me’ exhibitions. The idea was for people to write down their thoughts about what home meant to them, so that I could then create a poem from them. I also went out into schools
Wonderful time in Whitmore Reans
The latest poem I’ve been working on as part of my 52 about the city of Wolverhampton is set in Whitmore Reans. I had a great day going out and about nattering to folk about their area. Saima was my guide and we went to Gatis Street, ACCI, Gloucester Street, TLC, a mosque, and to meet a smashing family down
Wolverhampton Literature Festival and beyond
The Wolverhampton Literature Festival was a great weekend. I MCd the slam with Dave Pitt and Steve Pottinger, we ran a fringe room, a writers hub, as well as bring in our regular night from Walsall for its yearly sojourn to Wolverhampton. I also got to see The Antipoet and Martin Figura. In my role as Poet Laureate for the
City Council commissions a poem on housing
2018 was the centenary of the speech given by David LLoyd George about creating a county fit for heroes. The speech was given at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton. Here’s a link to an online article in the Express and Star. https://www.expressandstar.com/news/politics/2018/11/23/a-fit-country-for-heroes-100-years-since-lloyd-georges-legendary-wolverhampton-speech/ Wolverhampton Homes got in touch to see if I’d be interested in writing a poem connecting to this.
Chuffed to be announced as the first Poet Laureate for the City of Wolverhampton
I was delighted to be asked to take on this honorary role for the City that I love. I can’t wait to get started writing poems. I’ve put out a call on social media for suggestions for subjects that I should tackle during the two year laureateship, and I’m looking forward to seeing what people suggest. I’m also hoping to
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