Community Poems

I created the concept of a visual Community Poem for Bournemouth Writing Festival in 2024 (please see below) and most recently created a Community Nature Poem with Folde Bookshop in Shaftesbury as part of Indie Book Week 2026. It was wonderful! Instagram reel here https://www.instagram.com/p/DZzKJsDNVzW/

The Bournemouth Writing Festival Community Poem was part of the Festival's 2024 and 2025 programmes. In 2024 the local community invested their hearts and souls into this poem and the poem took on a life of its own as an expression of Bournemouth's Community. It was wonderful and emotional:

I gathered contributions via (1) a 'Postbox' I made and left in Bournemouth Library and (2) members of the public I spoke with over the course of a single day in Bournemouth Town.

I was invited to repeat the Community Poem in 2025. This time, two days were allocated for the poem. Once again, the end product was an authentic and vivacious representation of local voices.

Every time I do a Community Poem, amazing things happen. In 2025 this included poems from two stunt bike riders, one of whom did a parcourt jump up to the bandstand where we were creating it and a healing prayer for my arthritic dog.

Please see images below from the 2025 and 2024 Community Poems. :)

Enjoy this 2025 Instagram reel https://www.instagram.com/p/DJGz0MTsTsH/
and 2024 TikTok film here: https://www.tiktok.com/@estellephillips/video/7362551484325596449