We are thrilled to announce that The Coffin works has its very first Poet in Residence, Olga Dermott-Bond.
With The Coffin Works 10th birthday coming up this October , we want to mark the occasion in a variety of exciting ways. One way has been our ’10 for 10′ fundraising campaign, which we have received such wonderful response from. Another is our Creative Works project where we are asking our visitors and volunteers to send their creative interpretation of the museum. From artwork, to cakes, music, dance and poetry!
That is why we are so excited to announce our first poet in residence, Olga Dermott-Bond. The Coffin Works as a heritage site is enriched by so many stories from the histories of the former workers and from the all the visitors we have welcomed over the last decade. Our talented volunteer team tell those stories to new visitors everyday through guided tours and as room enablers.
We hope that over Olga’s residency at The Coffin Works, our visitors, volunteers and local community will find new creative ways to engage with the museum’s heritage. Through creative writing challenges, to workshops and a series of poems created by Olga inspired by the museum ; her residency will mark our 10th year in a memorable way.
About our Poet in Residence
“The Museum is amazing – such a treasure trove of history! The Grade II listed building, the original machinery and the intriguing stories of those who worked here in the heart of the Jewellery quarter are all fantastic sources of inspiration for poetry. I am looking forward to contributing the “creative works” project in the museum’s tenth anniversary year, and to engaging as many of our visitors, volunteers and local community with the power of poetry.” – Olga Dermott-Bond.
Olga is originally from Northern Ireland, and lives in Warwickshire, where she works as a secondary school teacher. Her first full collection Frieze is published by Nine Arches Press and she has published two pamphlets: apple, fallen (Against the Grain Press, 2020) and A Sky full of strange specimens (Nine Pens Press, 2021). She has won a number of competitions including the BBC Proms poetry competition, Welshpool and Poetry on Loan poetry competitions and her work has been featured in The Guardian. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is currently a guest editor for Irish poetry journal Dodging the Rain.
