I’m really happy to have been appointed as Poet-in-Residence for a unique new project with Efficiency North, who work in social housing and community regeneration projects throughout my native region. I met Liz Butcher from EN at an event in Manchester back in June, and we clicked straight away…
For the next six months or so, I’ll be travelling around Yorkshire & The Humber to meet the groups which have benefited from Efficiency North’s Community Investment Fund (which is open again for applications here).
Whilst doing so, I’ll be scribbling away in my notebooks. This will lead to a collection of twenty poems being produced by EN, ahead of their annual conference next summer.
These kind of community projects fall directly in line with my social and political activism; both in terms of the activity on a practical front, but also in terms of the human element and the characters that I’ll meet. Plus they’re from my neck of the woods of course, which always helps!
I’ll be sure to update my social media channels as I go, and you can also follow Efficiency North on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I can’t wait to get started…
Matt Abbott Poet 