North-East poems take to the air

A £50,000 Arts Council England grant, to help people discover the possibilities of art through the Sill, has been awarded to the Northumberland National Park Authority and YHA (England and Wales).

The grant will be used to support the development of Poems in the Air, an exciting new permanent digital project from acclaimed poet Simon Armitage, which will connect the many elements of Northumberland National Park’s ancient landscapes with modern day technology.

Thanks to the funding, people of all ages will be able to access poetry at a number of sites throughout the park from late autumn this year. Encompassing some of the many unique aspects of the National Park, from its wildlife and rare flora, to history, geography and language, a series of site-specific poems will be created by Armitage. To experience these unique snapshots of the landscape, visitors will make their way to specific locations, where they will be able to activate recordings of Armitage reading his poems on their mobile phone or tablet. The project has been designed to create a series of personal and special moments, with the poems unable to be accessed by any other means – other than in the very location about which they are written.

Construction on the Sill national landscape discovery centre is about to start at Once Brewed in the Hadrian’s Wall area of the park, and the arts initiative is set to support the Sill’s key aims of helping people explore and learn about Northumberland’s finest countryside – before the site is even open for business.

Viv Hardwick