Poet in the City is thrilled to announce the launch of Poet in the City Producers National, our flagship training programme for young producers to develop key industry and transferable skills in creative producing through a programme of workshops, leadership training, networking opportunities and professional practice.

Kicking off this month in Newcastle and Exeter, we’ll be working with young producers in each city as part of our Collections in Verse project in collaboration with Newcastle City and Exeter Central Libraries.

Applications to join are now open. We’re looking for curious, creative and enthusiastic young people who want to produce work that reflects the passion they have for their cities and communities. Poet in the City frequently work with young producers, helping them develop their talents across sectors and towards opportunities. Of our past Producers, 100% said participation in the programme gave them a better understanding of their future career and went on to jobs and work experience opportunities as a result of the programme.

Click here to read more and apply to our young producers programme.

"After four inspiring years of delivering Poet in the City Producers in London, working with so many talented creative young people each going on to build dynamic careers across the arts sector and beyond, we're so excited to be integrating Producers across our national programme with libraries in Newcastle and Exeter. The young producers on our programme have constantly pushed the boundaries of what live poetry events can be and totally transformed the way we work as an organisation - we are so proud to be associated with them. It has been amazing to have seen our talent development work grow from a mentoring scheme to a national producers training programme and we are excited to be working with young people across the UK to create new, bigger, bolder and more accessible stages for poetry." Isobel Colchester, Chief Executive, Poet in the City

We are extremely excited to be working with Poet in the City on this project, allowing the voices of young people in our community to be heard and giving them paid opportunities to engage with the Library service in a meaningful way. Libraries celebrate words and stories. Poetry is a fundamental part of our literary culture and so needs to be represented in our work. A project that celebrates poetry while engaging a younger audience would be most welcome. This project and all its facets fit with our aims perfectly and we cannot wait to see what comes to our city.” Callum Elliot-Archer, Exeter Library

"I’m really proud to be coordinating the Young Producers programme for Poet in the City. As both a spoken word artist and producer, I am passionate about poetry and creating a platform for diverse voices to have their stories, inner thoughts and feelings shared out loud. It will be an honor to work with young people from the communities of Newcastle to help support their own creative vision, to give them a meaningful and paid opportunity to produce the kind of event they want to see in their city. Poetry needs to have relevance to society if it is to be enjoyed; young people should be at the forefront of driving poetry forward and making it accessible and appreciated by a wider audience." Don Jenkins, Poet in the City Producers: Newcastle Programme Coordinator

Help us shape the programme and have your say 

We’re inviting young people, creatives, arts organisations and cultural venues based in Newcastle and Exeter to help shape what the Producers programme will look like and respond to in your city.

We will be hosting a series of roundtables and 1:1 conversations as we develop the programme so we can connect and collaborate with local creative partners to amplify and support the work already happening across each city and build a Producers programme that is responsive and meaningful.

Get in touch with us below if you are interested or have any ideas:

National Producers Lead: [email protected]
Newcastle Programme Coordinator: [email protected]
Exeter Programme Coordinator: [email protected]