Project Overview
The Words in the Landscape project aims to bring together readers, writers, poets and tellers of tales to celebrate the written and spoken word, and to connect people to the landscape.
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Words in the Landscape Project Aims
The project aims to engage hundreds of local people of all ages in a variety of activities, from creative writing workshops, commissioned work, community outreach to live events.
The project will culminate in the ‘Festival of Words’ – a celebration of the work that emerges from the project.
- To capture poetry and words composed by members of the public made in response to the landscape.
- To celebrate the written word through poetry and writing workshops and readings.
- To work with Poets and Writers to create new written works inspired by Cranborne Chase and the written word.
Project Development
Poetry Boxes
Over the summers of 2021 and 2022, the Chase & Chalke team placed Poetry Boxes in locations accessible by local communities and visitors across the Chase & Chalke Landscape Area.
These boxes contained cards and pencils, so that people could jot down rhymes, words, poems, reflections that the landscape inspired in them.
The submissions were regularly collected from the boxes, which were placed in locations such as Win Green, Fontmell Down, and Martin Down National Nature Reserve. In total, 145 submissions have been gathered and recorded from the Poetry boxes.
Poet Residency
Akulah Agbami joined the Chase & Chalke team as the Community Poet for the Scheme.
Akulah has been supporting young people and adults on a wide variety of poetic itineraries for thirty years.
She is a qualified teacher and experienced writer and poet, and came with a wealth of experience hosting and delivering workshops, and working with the public to nurture their creativity through poetry, words, and creative reflection.
Cherish
Akulah’s residency is called Cherish, which invites and instigates parallels between our care and understanding of the natural environment and our care and understanding of ourselves. Through Cherish, Akulah has created 5 new works, and 89 pieces of new work have been created by workshop attendees.
Cherish took part over a series of workshops with community groups and members of the public. Cherish also took part over walks, and thought online workshops as well.
Creative Writing Competition
View the Winning Entries and Runners up Here
In 2023 Chase & Chalke launched a Creative Writing Competition. This competition aimed to connect local people and visitors to our landscape, our heritage, and our communities. Entrants are asked to respond to the theme of ‘A Sense of Place: Cranborne Chase’ and explore the landscape, landmarks, countryside, features, village, towns, and people of Cranborne Chase, past and present, as their inspiration.There were three age categories for the competition:
Age 8 – 15, Age 16 – 25, and 26+
Entries had a word limit of 500 words.
Entrants were asked to respond to a theme of ‘Cranborne Chase: A Sense of Place’ Entrants were asked to respond to the theme of ‘Cranborne Chase: A Sense of Place’ and submissions were reviewed by a panel of expert judges who selected winners and runners-up for each age category.
The competition was launched in the Autumn of 2023 and was designed to encourage people to share their thoughts and feelings about Cranborne Chase – to reflect on its landscapes, wildlife, history, and culture, through the medium of words.
In total over 80 writers submitted entries, which were reviewed by our panel of judges.
Festival of Words
In October 2023 The Chase & Chalke team worked with a group of artists to host the Festival of Words at the Ancient Technology Centre in Cranborne. This festival was created to connect people to the landscape through written and spoken word.
The festival day featured a plethora of activities with poets and storytellers, workshops, treasure hunt, poetry on demand, and a showcase of entries from the Creative Writing Competition.
In the evening, the audience enjoyed a showcase of commissioned work from various artist and performers in the Earth House.
In total, 259 people took part in the Festival of Words.
Get Involved with the Words in the Landscape Project
Community Poet Residency
Find out how to get involved with Poetry Workshops with our Community Poet
Learn More
Find out more by viewing our Project Summary here: Click below to register on our volunteer and training hub! The Chase & Chalke team offer free training opportunities to our volunteers. Register today to view upcoming activities to get involved with the Words in the Landscape project, as well as free training & more.
Learn more about Words in the Landscape
The Chase & Chalke Volunteer Hub
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The Chase & Chalke team send out monthly updates on our projects and opportunities. This is a great way to ensure you’ll receive our latest news and opportunities.
Register to stay up to date with the scheme.
To learn more about the project, or to get involved, contact Charlottemoreton@cranbornechase.org.uk.