Rugby League World Cup Cultural Festival launches Power of Poetry across North of England

A new poetry initiative aims to win the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of sports fans this autumn. Four large mobile artworks, entitled the The Power of Poetry, have begun a tour across the North of England as part of the Rugby League World Cup Cultural Festival.

Inspired by the Rugby League World Cup strapline “The Power of Together”, the artist and poet Robert Montgomery has joined forces with Emergency Exit Arts and eight poets to create four, striking, double-sided poems.

The new mobile poems explore the themes of inclusivity, the joy of reconnecting through sports after lockdowns and the dynamic nature of rugby league.

Mounted on the back of trailers, the poems will journey across the North with all four stopping off at locations in and around the Rugby League World Cup Cultural festival partner cities of Newcastle, Leeds, Hull and Manchester. They will appear in civic squares stadiums, libraries and local rugby league clubs with the aim of nurturing a love of poetry.

Mr Montgomery said he liked to experiment with the idea that poets could work together.

He added: "We thought writing collaboratively with a group of poets from Leeds, Hull, Newcastle and Manchester would be a really interesting idea. I'm a massive sports fan and still play football at the ripe old age of 50. We wanted to capture the childhood joy of running across a patch of grass while chasing a ball.

"Rugby league is for me the sport that most closely recreates the joy of the playground game 'British bulldogs' we used to play as children."

Mr Montgomery said he was particularly inspired by the fact that there will be a Physical Disability Rugby League (PDRL) World Cup.

"I know how much it means to so many people that people with disabilities will be included. We are taking art and poetry out on to the streets to make it accessible. It's all about breaking down boundaries and starting conversations around poetry and art. I hope around one million people will see our work."

"At the same time as the rugby league poems are launching in Yorkshire, I have a sculpture going on view in the gardens of the Louvre in Paris. So it’s from Leeds to the Louvre this week.”

Power of Poetry is part of the RLWC2021 Cultural Festival which is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and delivered in partnership with Newcastle City Council, the North of Tyne Combined Authority, Hull City Council, Leeds 2023 and Libraries Connected.

Katy Fuller, of Pinwheel, Creative Director and Producer for the Cultural Festival commented: “We are so fortunate to have been able to bring together such an amazing cohort of poets and artists to create these artworks."

For more information visit: https://www.rlwc2021.com/rlwc2021-cultural-festival.