The Long Path South to find True North: a poetry project with a difference

Local people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, as well as members of the wider community, are taking part in an exciting new poetry project which will see them asking questions about their life and what the future may hold. 

‘The Long Path South to find True North’, which is running at our Cornerstone centre and Morning Star accommodation in Manchester, has been supported using public funding by Arts Council England, and is the latest in a series of creative wellbeing activities run by our charity to help support local people.

Here, poet Phil Davenport tells us more…

Can you tell us a bit about you and your background please?
I’m a poet who often collaborates to make big group poems, co-authored by many individuals.  Over the last 15 years I’ve engaged with people experiencing homelessness in Manchester and North West England.  Some of these projects, like Refuge from the Ravens and The Homeless Library, have been exhibited in places like the Houses of Parliament and the Southbank, reaching out to wide audiences. The most recent project was based at Cornerstone and exhibited at HOME.

What is this latest project about and why is it so important?
This latest project, True North, is about people imagining good futures for themselves, and dreaming up ways of getting there. Making sure that everyone is heard is a crucial element of our democracy and our society. How can we all be equal if some voices are drowned out?

What inspires you/what do you enjoy most about working with people at Cornerstone and Morning Star?
My days spent at Cornerstone are precious to me, it’s here that I have the best conversations of my week.

Often people’s words stay with me for days afterwards, words of beauty and silliness and wisdom. The people I encounter have many life experiences, sometimes these experiences have been difficult and have etched themselves painfully into peoples lives. Some of the experiences are magical, transcendent.

I’m privileged that they choose to share some of their lives with me and we work together turning those words into poems.

What did you learn from the last project A Place at the Table that you’ll be applying this time or doing differently?
There were many lessons to be drawn from the last project. But the one that immediately comes to mind is humour. I’ve never been in a poetry group were so many people wrote poems that made me laugh. We’ve embraced that in this new project, we’re turning our faces towards the sun.

What is involved in the sessions you’re running this time around?
The poetry sessions are open to absolutely everyone who comes to Cornerstone. All of these voices should be heard and respected.

Because we ran a regular poetry group last year, several members of that group have continued with us. It’s been a pleasure to continue along our poetic path together again. There are many new faces too.

I also run some impromptu sessions at breakfast and sometimes by the entrance, so that people who feel more comfortable standing outside can take part too. I’m very proud a lot of people who are currently rough sleeping have taken part in making the poems.

What will be produced by the group?
We are making a big poetic installation at Central Library in Manchester. Poems are being inscribed into paper sculptures that the public can interact with. We are also making sound recordings and little films.

What are you hoping the project will achieve?
I hope that this project will do what good poetry and art always aims for – to make our eyes wider to wonder.

What are you most looking forward to?
I look forward to each and every week of this project. It really is my highlight. Even the days which are sad, or shocking are also part of the whole. I rarely come away from Cornerstone without having been moved, unsettled and having had a really great belly laugh. Sometimes all of these things simultaneously.

Poetry and art aren’t the first things people tend to think of when it comes to the provision of support for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.  Why is it helpful and important?
Poetry and art help us to communicate the deepest felt aspects of our lives. They’re what we reach for when we really want to connect with somebody else. For people who are pushed to the edges, this is a vital bridge, linking to everybody else.

And art is often what people do to settle themselves down, to come to a peaceful settlement with life. Artists are very frequently people who are trying to resolve their own issues through creativity. It’s how we’ve addressed these things from time immemorial. People talk about multimedia art, but forget the most important artistic medium. As a way to heal ourselves, the arts are a medium of transformation.