The Poetry Archive loves to see new poetry projects flourish and we were very happy to be able to support Poetry Screen pilot their new Film-making/Poetry project. Poetry Screen encouraged young creatives to create poetry videos using the Poetry Archive’s collections as influence and inspiration. Targeted as it was to young people, this project offered the opportunity for new, exciting creative producers to be introduced to the Archive’s collections, and for our collections to be used in new ways.

Seventy-eight poetry videos were submitted to the final Poetry Screen competition, representing over 140 individuals collaborating in their production – and all this through a pandemic! Entrants included film-makers, animators, students, professional poets and actors. Each entrant used either a poem from the Poetry Archive’s collections or wrote an original piece inspired by the poetry they discovered there.

The final showcase of five winning films demonstrated the fabulous talent and creativity in the film-making community. The winner of Poetry Screen 2021 Commission was Evelyn Weldon: her film ‘Concrete Hands’ is an exploration of trauma through urban/rural settings and physical theatre created with collaboration with Matt Thompson as director of photography. Congratulations to a sensational winning Commission amongst an extremely talented field.