POETS will be popping up across Oxford to dazzle listeners with their renditions of rhythm and rhyme.

Pop-up readings organised by Oxford Brookes University’s Poetry Centre have been timed tomorrow to coincide with National Poetry Day.

About 20 poets will perform at locations across the city, including the Old Fire Station in George Street, Blackwell’s Bookshop in Broad Street, the Albion Beatnik bookshop in Jericho and Oxford Castle off New Road.

Among those taking part will be Oxford Spires Academy pupils Emee Begum and Esme Partridge, both 17, from Oxford, who have been working with Forward Prize-winning poet Kate Clanchy.

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Ms Clanchy, 49, from Oxford, whose Selected Poems is published by Picador, said: “Pop-up readings are great fun.

“Poetry pops up on our screens and needs to pop up in our lives too.”

Ms Clanchy was Oxford’s city poet, appointed by Oxford City Council in 2011 and 2012, and has been working with pupils at Oxford Spires Academy in East Oxford for the past seven years.

Helen Woods and Jasmine Burgess, both in Year 9, have been selected as two of the three finalists for this year’s John Betjeman Poetry Competition for Young People.

Jasmine, Helen, and Emee Begum have poems in the top 100 of Foyle Young Poets of the Year Competition, an international contest with 15,000 entries.

Ms Clanchy, whose novel Meeting the English was shortlisted for the Costa Prize, said: “Emee came to this country from Bangladesh aged nine and English is her second language, so getting shortlisted like this is a remarkable achievement.”

The school’s librarian Katherine Whittington is also being recognised on National Poetry Day with a Teacher Trailblazer Award from the Poetry Society for her creative writing work with pupils.

Since May last year, pupils at Oxford Spires have achieved success in the Christopher Tower Competition 2013, the John Betjeman Poetry Competition 2013, the 2013 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Competition, the 2014 Lancaster Writing Awards, Poetry by Heart 2014, and Oxford Through Your Eyes competition, as part of the Magdalen College School Arts Festival.

Oxford Spires headteacher Sue Croft added: “I’m really delighted with the work that Kate Clanchy has been doing with students, and the quality of their creative voices is a cause for celebration.”

Emee Begum and Esme Partridge are taking part in the pop-up reading at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Broad Street at 1pm.

The readings will conclude with a performance poetry session at the Catweazle Club in East Oxford.

Dr Eoin Flannery, Reader in Irish literature and director of Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre, said: “Poetry is not just confined to books and classrooms. Our aim is to remind people of the entertainment value to be gleaned from sharing poetry.”

Pop-up readings on Thursday, October 2

  • 11am: Old Fire Station, George Street: Dan Holloway, Mary Jean Chan s Noon: Blackwell’s Bookshop, Broad Street: Alan Buckley, Kate Venables
  • 12:30pm: The Forum, Oxford Brookes Gipsy Lane campus: Kim Campanello, Caroline Jackson-Houlston
  • 1pm: Albion Beatnik Bookshop, Walton Street: Harry Mason, Tom Vickers
  • 1pm: Blackwell’s Bookshop in Broad Street: Kate Clanchy and poets from Oxford Spires Academy
  • 1.30pm: Simon Williams undergraduate centre Wheatley campus: George Roberts, Louise Grisoni
  • 2pm: Oxford Castle opp Cafe 1071: Rob Stepney and Charlbury poets
  • 2.30pm: The Forum, Oxford Brookes Gipsy Lane campus: Harry Man, Claire Cox, Matt Bryden
  • 3.30pm: Courtyard outside food hall Oxford Brookes Harcourt Hill campus: Jane Spiro, George Ro
  • 7.30pm: Performance poetry at the Catweazle Club at the East Oxford Community Centre: Neil Spokes, Tina Sederholm

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