Building solidarity through poetry: a celebration at Southwark Cathedral
Have you noticed that poetry helps us find our common humanity? We’re on a mission to build connections within and between communities – to reduce isolation and build solidarity and unity. There’s nothing like a good poem to connect us to one another – including people from very different walks of life.
Back in March, we launched a national poetry challenge, welcoming anyone and everyone to write a poem on the theme of TOGETHERNESS. We have received poems from young and old, those currently in prison, people who have experienced chronic loneliness, doctors, nurses, teachers, and people from a wide range of heritage, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. This event aims to bring as many of these people together as we can – along with interested people and organisations working on similar themes – to listen to some rare and incredible poems, and just have some fun.
You don’t have to be a poetry pro to join us!
The poetry challenge is part of a wider initiative called 32 Steps to Togetherness. Through our various lines of work at Civil Society Consulting, we have witnessed the rising levels of loneliness across all age groups, which leads to people feeling isolated and more hostile to others. To combat this social division, we believe we need more connection and community. That is why Civil Society Consulting is rolling out 32 Steps to Togetherness, a movement based on a manual of practical actions that we can all take to build connections within and between communities.
Why poetry?
Poetry can help us to make sense of the pain we experience as a result of isolation and division. Poetry can also connect us to one another – including people from very different walks of life. For some of us, writing can be therapeutic! The response to our call has been better than we ever expected. We have received over 400 poems, capturing the need for connection and community as human beings. Through these poems, we have identified how writing can be a powerful tool to release painful emotions.
In July this year, we held an in-person poetry workshop in Libreria Bookshop, in London, facilitated by Ovyuki and Aminah Rahman, and it was a beautiful evening where we witnessed the powerful effect of spoken word on people. We are delighted to host the awards ceremony and celebration of the Togetherness Poetry Challenge in Southwark Cathedral on November 30. Whether you’ve participated in the challenge or not, this is going to be an evening of creativity and connection, where everyone is invited to come and listen to spoken word performances. If you did submit a poem, we encourage you to come along and bring your poem!
Date and time
Saturday, November 30 · 3 – 6pm GMT
Location
Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, London SE1 9DA
Follow us on Instagram for updates. @hidden.literature @stepstotogetherness
