ISBN: 978-1-913437-62-6 

Price: £16.99

Publication date: November 16th 2023

Format: Paperback 

Poetry Projects to Make and Do, edited by Deborah Alma, The Emergency Poet, is a ‘how to’ handbook of prompts, inspiration, ideas and essays designed to help both aspiring and established poets find new ways not only to create poetry, but to share and take it out into the world through collaboration, projects, performances – and more.

With an array of real-life examples from experienced poets, Poetry Projects to Make and Do provides imaginative case studies and inspiration for readers to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in. Each essay encourages experimentation whilst also supplying plenty of practical tips and guidance.

From projects which poets can try out in their bedroom to ones which take poetry out into the streets; from having a go at making a poetry films or podcasts to hand-crafting a poetry residency; from how to apply for funding to working in collaboration and involving music, art or photography in your poetry, the book covers a broad range of topics to inspire everyday creativity, to surprise and to delight.

The book follows previous popular creative writing handbook titles for Nine Arches Press – including The Craft, Why I Write Poetry and How to be a Poet – and is edited by Deborah Alma, aka The Emergency Poet and founder of the world’s first walk-in Poetry Pharmacy, based in Bishops Castle, Shropshire.

Includes 25 essays by:

Deborah Alma; Jean Atkin; Casey Bailey; Roshni Beeharry; Julia Bird; Jo Bell; Jane Burn; Lewis Buxton; Jane Commane; Jonathan Davidson; Helen Dewbery; Pat Edwards; Jasmine Gardosi; Roz Goddard; Daisy Henwood; Sophie Herxheimer; Helen Ivory; Gregory Leadbetter; Arji Manuelpillai; Caleb Parkin; Nina Mingya Powles; Jacqueline Saphra; Clare Shaw; Degna Stone and Tamar Yoseloff.

About the editor:

Deborah Alma is a poet, editor and teacher. She was the Emergency Poet offering poetry on prescription from her vintage ambulance. She co-founded the world’s first walk-in Poetry Pharmacy in Shropshire with her partner, the poet James Sheard, in 2019. A mix of the therapeutic and the theatrical, Deborah offers consultations and prescribes poems as cures. She is editor of Emergency Poet: an anti-stress poetry anthology, #MeToo rallying against sexual harassment: a women’s poetry anthology, Ten Poems of Happiness and co-edited These Are the Hands-Poems from the Heart of the NHS with Dr Katie Amiel. Her first full collection Dirty Laundry is published by Nine Arches Press.