JOSH BROWN
Teacher & Author
An author, editor & podcaster with a lifelong love of theatre and the arts, Josh was a lecturer in business and management and from 2009-2015 as Chair of the Trust oversaw the rebuilding of the New Theatre Royal in partnership with the University of Portsmouth. In 2003 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Commerce & Industry (RSA). He is the author of ‘Unjudging Love: The Enigma of Dylan Thomas’
LIZ WESTON
Educationalist & Arts Administrator
Abackground in a wide range of arts – from fringe theatre in the 1970’s to, more recently, Education and Outreach Manager at the New Theatre Royal. She was one of the team who set up the street theatre in Covent Garden; ran a cabaret circus and managed Covent Garden Community Theatre. In the 80’s she was the founder director of the Hornpipe Arts Centre in Portsmouth, bringing such companies as Gay Sweatshop and Spare Tyre to the city. She believes in the power of live arts – the dynamics created when performer and audience share a space.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Portsmouth Poetry is a non-profit mixed arts organisation operating in the Portsmouth (UK) region with national and international affiliations. We organise performance events; discussions; community and educational projects; support established and rising poets; occasional reviews of poets and works; podcast and publish new, rising and established poets.
We embrace all arts but everything we do is built around the power and beauty of the word. Since 2016, we have built a reputation for exciting and innovative heritage, community and educational projects which have won us national and international recognition. We were guests of HM Government at the 2018 WW1 Commemoration service at Westminster Abbey for our 2017 Passchendaele project in partnership with Portsmouth Cathedral now in the archives of Queens University Belfast.
We curated poetry events with/for Ports Fest who hosted the launch of our first publication ‘Ecstasy & Grief’ and work with the 4-3-2 Nomads collective on our Power of the Beat poetry and rap project with local schools. Our pandemic lockdown poetry competition ‘CoronaVerses’ drew contributions from poets in the UK, Africa, India and the USA.
We partner with local and regional community, education and cultural organisations including Ports Fest, Portsmouth Cathedral, Park Community School, Portsmouth Education Partnership, Portsmouth Creates, The New Theatre Royal, Groundlings Theatre, the Guildhall and many others. Our work has been funded by Heritage Lottery, Arts Council England, Big Ideas Community Interest Company, Ports Fest, Portsmouth Creates and private donation.
