About

Fiona is a writer, theatre practitioner and creative facilitator. She is founder of The Poetry Exchange, a project that celebrates and shares the connections between people and poems. The Poetry Exchange podcast is listened to in over 150 countries. Fiona’s work has been featured on Radio 3’s The Verb, in various journals and been short-listed in the Bridport and Much Wenlock Poetry Prizes. She is also co-director of The Map Consortium - one of the UK’s pioneering applied arts organisations. She has devised and delivered projects internationally through collaborations in Europe, USA, India and Japan. 

Summary of work

The Poetry Exchange explores the idea of poems as friends. Through conversations, events and our podcast, we capture the insights of readers and share them. We work with poets, actors and artists to explore poems and what they mean to us. At the heart of our work is The Poetry Exchange itself - an invitation for people to explore a poem that has been a friend to them, in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team. In return they receive a gift: a bespoke recording of their chosen poem, inspired by the conversation and their thoughts and feelings about the poem.

Summary of work to develop

The Poetry Exchange podcast shares edited versions of the unique conversations and readings created through the exchange. The podcast is already reaching hundreds of listeners around the world - from Belfast to Brooklyn, Worthing to Warsaw. We are seeking close collaborations with organisations and artists who have poetry in their hearts, who are interested in exploring new ways of presenting and encountering the artform - creating conversations between writers, readers, listeners and communities. We are exploring new formats for live events and expanding the ways in which we curate our archive on line. 

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