Poets on Ealing’s High Streets
Ealing Culture’s new Poetry High Streets project places three poets in three different high streets around the borough to engage with local businesses and visitors to the high street and create a series of public poetry installations to be launched in March 2025.
Laurie Bolger will be based in Pitshanger Lane, Shagufta Iqbal in Hanwell (north end of Boston Road), and Mr Gee in Oldfields Circus in Northolt. Between them they have experience of working with a wide range of groups and communities, from pubs and boutiques to prisons, schools, and senior citizens.
Mr Gee says he loves putting poetry in places where it wouldn’t normally be seen, and Laurie used to run a market stall herself, so is looking forward to getting to know some of the traders on Pitshanger Lane. Shagufta is a resident of Hanwell and excited about bringing a creative project to her own area.
Over the course of November and December the poets will be popping into businesses on the high streets to talk to the people who work there and run a series of writing workshops with them. They’ll be exploring the stories and characters of each location, what makes it special to the people who are based there, and finding out about the creativity in each business, from florists to hairdressers.
The project will culminate in a series of public poetry installations on each high street incorporating the words and voices of participants. These will be launched in spring 2025 along with a podcast where you can hear people reading their poems and talking with the poets about their high streets.
The project is produced by Ealing Council’s Arts & Culture Service and supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
About the poets
Mr Gee (@mrgeepoet) has been a veteran on the UK’s Live poetry scene for over 25 years. He’s presented several series on BBC Radio 4: Bespoken Word, Rhyme & Reason & Poetic Justice. His poetry has been used to launch the 2022/23 FA Cup Finals and the 2021 Euros. He has a TEDx talk entitled Have poems, will travel.
Shagufta K Iqbal is a poet and facilitator. She is the author of Jam Is For Girls, Girls Get Jam. Her work is included in Spin and Book Of Bristol. She is currently writing a new collection of poetry, and a children’s collection. She has been writer in residence at places like Apples and Snakes, Hackney Museum, and the Portico Library in Manchester.
Laurie Bolger (@lauriebolger_) is a London based stand-up poet, presenter & founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club & Poetry in Pyjamas. Her work has featured across Glastonbury, BBC Radio 1/1Xtra/Global News, Channel 4 & Sky Arts. Laurie was awarded Best Female Presenter & Sound of the Roundhouse for her stand-up poetry radio show judged by Gemma Cairney & held a residency at Soho Theatre for several years.