Did I Tell You? 131 poems for Children in Need was published on 16 November 2010 to raise money for the children’s charity. The collection, based on the theme of childhood, has been put together by Kent poets Nicky Gould and Vicky Wilson after an invitation for submissions was posted in the local press and online.
“We had the idea of inviting one or two well-known names to contribute and they then passed on the word and soon we had submissions from Andrew Motion, George Szirtes, Vicki Feaver, Catherine Smith, Ruth Padel, Myra Schneider and a host of others. The response has been overwhelming, ranging from published poets who offered us their work for free, to those who have never seen one of their poems in print,” the organisers.
The launch was on 16 November is at the University of Kent. Buy at http://www.wordaid.org.uk, at the various launch events and via Amazon, price £10 (plus £2 p&p) or 3 copies for £25 (plus £2 p&p); news of events linked to the publication can also be found on the website.
The project is the first of a series of planned publications from Kent-based fundraising collective WordAid, a group of poets and writers whose members are Patricia Debney, Jo Field and Jen Kahwatte alongside Nicky Gould and Vicky Wilson. Future publications include a collection of poetry on the subject of aging by Jo Field and an anthology of prose poetry written by MA students at the University of Kent with proceeds going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF).
You can find the WordAid page on Facebook and @WordAid on Twitter. For further information, contact info@wordaid.org.uk
Abegail Morley 