Creative Kirklees Award: Batley Poets
EIGHT years ago a poetry session was held at Batley Library during the first Batley Festival.
It was the start of something which grew and grew and no-one could have envisaged Batley now has a vibrant poetry community that is inspirational to the area.
A group called Batley Poets has been set up and its website www. batleypoets.co.uk has more than 150 poems from 50 poets, with lots more being loaded up.
Poets are now drawn to the group from across Kirklees and they have taken part in countless community events and encouraged children in Batley’s schools to write poetry.
Founder Mohamed Saloo said: “Our greatest achievement lies within the words of the poets who have taken part. Batley Poets is a stage to share pain, sorrow and tears which could not be shared anywhere else. I do not say that we have helped people to recover, but this group has given the voiceless a voice and supported the vulnerable through some personal tragedies and challenges. There is more to Batley poets than just poetry – there is a sense of safety, a place to share without judgement and where the sessions are owned by the participants, not the organisers. This, for me, is my proudest part.”
Some of the Batley Poets’ achievements include appearing at Huddersfield Literature Festival, a special Bards of Batley book featuring 22 poets to mark 150 years since Batley became a borough, and working with 480 students from four Batley schools to produce an exhibition of 80 poems which have been displayed across Batley including its library, town hall and Bagshaw Museum and now seen by an estimated 42,000 people.
A project called Bench Poets saw members going into parks around Kirklees to read poetry out loud. Batley Poets were also invited to perform Poets in Parliament with award-winning poet and Radio 4 poet-in-residence Daljit Nagra.
Mohamed added: “We have seen participants gain confidence and now stand on the edge of releasing their own poetry books. Over the last few years we have seen Batley Poets develop from a single session to a force making an impact and inspiring local people.”