River of Hope, managed by the Thames Festival Trust and in partnership with LEEDS 2023, are looking for an inspirational poet who will work with young people to create spoken word pieces in response to their local environment and Climate Change issues.

River of Hope is an international art and education project which aims to inspire young people through creativity whilst addressing key Climate Change and environmental issues. Over the period 2023-25 the project will be delivered in 9 UK regions and 3 overseas countries, linking with key cultural events such as Leeds 2023 and international festivals such as the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

River of Hope encourages young people to explore and reflect on local and global issues. Using the local river as a starting point for the work, young people are guided by an artist to respond to particular environmental themes. The final product will be the creation of a series of flags (or similar) for public installation and a short film in each location which tells the story of the river.

The young people will be part of River of Hope and have worked with a visual artist and created designs for flags. Five schools from Leeds will be involved, each with a group of 20-25 young people aged 13-14 years old.

Ideally the poetry workshops will take place outside, by the waterfront. Each session will last approx. 2hrs and will take place in October 2023. The process and end pieces will be recorded and incorporated into a project film.