The Beginings
My name's Aoife Hayes, a journalist with a life-long love for poetry.
Over the last few years I have tried to write a poem each week inspired by a news story. It may have been a story that dominated the press that week, or a quirky headline and story I noticed somewhere. I've always found poetry therapeutic; either reading, reciting or writing it. I find that writing poetry based on the news helps us digest the world around us in a creative way.
There was one news story that dominated 2020 - a year when all our lives changed considerably. 2021 has begun, and while things are changing slowly, we are still facing the challenges of a pandemic. While people have been locked down, isolating, and responding to the general uncertainty of Covid-19 lots of people, not just me, have found solace in poetry.
I thought if there were ever a time to share my idea of News In Poetry, and connect us all using our imaginations and creativity, it is now.
The Vision
I believe that many pens have been put to paper over the last year. Each week people are producing poetry inspired by the news around them.
People across the world are creating wonderful verses and stanzas - people who frequently write poetry, people who sometimes dabble, or there are those writing who never did before. I want to connect everybody and share all our creations.
For me, there is nothing better than hearing poetry read aloud. News In Poetry wants to bring people's poems to life and what better way to do that then to hear them performed by some well-known and relevant voices. News In Poetry wants to connect well-known, unknown, soon-to-be-known voices -- let's get everybody involved. When you submit your poem why not tell us your dream reader -- the voice you would love to hear reading one of your poems.
While it may feel like the news is currently dominated by coronavirus, lots of other things are happening around us so please share all the poetry you have been inspired to write. The aim is to share as many poems as possible each week. And News In Poetry hopes to eventually share at least one special reading each week too.