At Kendal Poetry Festival, we believe that poetry is for everyone – but we recognise that financial difficulties and access needs often prevent low-income and disabled writers from attending poetry festivals. As part of our commitment to widening access, we established the ‘Opening Doors’ project which, every year, supports attendance for low-income writers and disabled writers who would otherwise struggle to attend.
2021 Project
In our original 2020 ‘Opening Doors’ project, we planned to give four poets who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend the festival the opportunity to come for free. Unfortunately, we cannot deliver our original project because of the global health pandemic. However, we have been trying to think of other ways we can best serve the community of poets who are often unable to attend events because of financial circumstances.
We have decided to offer ten Festival Bursaries this year to anybody that would not otherwise be able to afford to attend. A Festival Bursary includes a free ticket for the Afternoon and Evening Readings and the Open Mics (excludes workshops). You do not have to provide reasons or an explanation for why you would like a Festival Bursary. Please just email [email protected]. These tickets will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.
My late partner became very disabled, and we trundled to many venues with wheelchair and oxygen. It was never easy but sometimes comic: in a Travelodge one night, J touched the panic button in mistake for the bedside lamp. It was really impressive how rapidly someone rushed into the room, only to find us sheepishly apologetic…
(Christine Webb, poet and supporter of Opening Doors)
“Bursaries like this are so important in allowing people like myself, who would never have considered themselves able to attend a poetry event, access to poetry. Like most people attending (I’m sure), I also write – and while reading poetry broadens poets, I was reminded at the festival how much hearing poetry also broadens poets.”
(Jamie Hale, 2018 bursary recipient)