SATURDAY 25th and SUNDAY 26th APRIL - POETRY ACTIVITIES

‘Day in the Life’ Community Poem Bunting: with AJ Hardingson 

10am - 5pm

For: all ages

 

This year’s community poem gives writers of all ages a chance to reflect on a snapshot of their day on a piece of bunting. These individual bunting pieces will be combined over the course of the festival into a collaborative poem which will eventually be displayed at Bournemouth Library. 

Writers are free to work and respond to the theme in any way they choose. Collage and art materials will be available to play with and add to the mix. 

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AJ Hardingson, a local poet who specializes in freeform, collage and blackout poetry, will be on hand to guide, support and empower you while you create your contribution.

 

How to get involved: drop in to the poetry hub anytime and follow the instructions! 

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‘Writing the Everyday’ Poetry Zine: with AJ Hardingson 

10am - 5pm

For: poets aged 18yrs+

 

Contribute a piece to a special poetry zine created as part of Bournemouth Writing Festival. Writers from across the BCP area and visiting at the Writing Festival are invited to create or contribute a poem that fits onto a single A5 zine page on the theme of‘writing the everyday’.

Writers are free to interpret this theme however they wish and use any form of poetry. You are also able to create accompanying artwork and/or illustrations onto your zine page (art and collage supplies will be available). You can either write something on the spot, or use a piece you’ve already written. Writers are also able to include their social media tags or website details on their page.

The Zine will be compiled (and available to view as it is formed) across the weekend, and will be shared online on Friday 1st May.

 

AJ Hardingson, a local poet who specializes in zine making, collage and blackout poetry, will be on hand to guide and support you while you create your contribution at the festival.

 

How to get involved: drop in to the poetry hub anytime 10am-5pm Saturday or Sunday and follow the instructions to add your zine page. 

Alternatively, submit a zine page online via AJ Hardingson’s website by 5pm Sunday 26th April: https://www.aj-hardingson.com/

 

AJ Hardingson is a mixed-race, queer, poet, author and storyteller. A recent mentee of the Write Beyond Borders international literature development programme, AJ is currently working on a poetry project on belonging and ethnic diversity in the New Forest, and a queer spy novel set in Elizabethan England.

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Poetry Tombola from Poetry Exchange

10am - 5pm

For: all ages

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Simply spin the Poetry Tombola drum to pick out a number. Then exchange that number for the corresponding poem in an envelope for you to take away with you.

 

All the poems have been brought to The Poetry Exchange over the years by people who have known them as friends. The Poetry Exchange invites people from all walks of life to come and talk with them about the poem that has been a friend to them, exploring their chosen poem and the part it has played in their life. 

 

Poetry Tombola allows you to meet some of these poems for yourself…and perhaps they will go on to become a friend to you too!

 

You can listen to The Poetry Exchange’s extraordinary conversations about Poems as Friends on their award-winning podcast and at www.thepoetryexchange.co.uk. 

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Game Poems from Game Poems Magazine

10am - 5pm

For: all ages

 

Can videogames be poems? Come to the Bournemouth Writing Festival and find out! In collaboration with Game Poems Magazine and University of Southampton we present an innovative collection of small, poetic videogames that anyone can play and enjoy on a mobile device—no gaming skills required!

 

Suitable for all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. 

Requires a mobile device such as a smart phone or iPad that can scan a QR code. 

Headphones recommended. 

 

Game Poems Magazine is an online playable magazine dedicated to exploring the artistic and poetic potential of short-form videogames. It is assembled and published at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. Learn more at GamePoems.com 

 

 

SATURDAY 25th APRIL 2026 - DROP IN WORKSHOP

High Street Haiku and poetry chat with Ellora Sutton

10:30am-12:00pm

For: all ages

 

Think you can’t write a poem? Think again! Prize-winning poet Ellora Sutton will get you started with just three lines, taking inspiration from what you see (or hear, or smell) around you. Whether you’ve got five minutes or an hour, pop in to get to grips with haiku at your own pace, one line at a time. If you want an extra challenge, you can try your hand at a haibun! 

This free drop-in is open to any and all abilities and ages. Everyone is welcome. 

Got any pressing poetry queries? Want a personalised poetry book recommendation or advice about pursuing poetry as (something like) a career? Ellora will be happy to chat all things poetry—in fact, she’d love to! 

 

Ellora Sutton is a poet and PhD candidate based in Hampshire. Her work has been published in The Poetry Review, Poetry Oxford, Magma, Fourteen Poems, etc., and she is the poetry book reviewer for Mslexia. Her PhD research uses poetry to explore museums as walkable urban spaces. She was the Poetry Book Society Spring 2023 Pamphlet Choice with Antonyms for Burial. Her debut collection is published by VERVE Poetry Press in April 2026. 

 

 

SUNDAY 26th APRIL 2026 - DROP IN WORKSHOP

Magical Charm Poems with Nazneen Ahmed Pathak

10:30am-12:00pm

For: 0-16yrs but all welcome to participate

 

Abracadabra, Alakazam! Make your own wearable magical charms at this free drop-in session.

If you could write your own spell, what would it be for? What would your magical words sound like? 

Do you know that lots of cultures around the world use words as wearable charms for luck and protection?

 

In this writing and making activity with poet and children's author Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, you'll get to create a spell of your own, turn it into beads, and take your unique magical charm bracelet away at the end. 

 

Activity suitable for all ages 0 - 16, but all are welcome to participate.

 

Nazneen Ahmed Pathak is a British Bangladeshi writer, historian and visual artist who lives in the port city of Southampton. As a historian she researches the geography and history of migration, a subject which is also at the heart of much of her fiction, poetry and visual arts practice. She was selected as one of 12 mentees from 2000 applicants for the 2016/17 inaugural round of Penguin Random House's Write Now mentorship scheme which aims to support and publish underrepresented writers.

 

She has held residencies at Southampton Central Libraries, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton Museums and Archives, and the Francis Crick Institute in association with Poet in the City. She was Hampshire Poet Laureate 2022-24. She has been published in Poem: International English Language Quarterly, Places of Poetry: Mapping the Nation in Verse (OneWorld Publications), The Puffin Book of Big Dreams (Puffin), and A Match Made in Heaven: British Muslim Women Write About Love and Desire (Hope Road Press). Nazneen's debut children's novel was City of Stolen Magic.