The National Poetry Centre is delighted to announce a three-day poetry event in Leeds next month.

Poetry pop-up Rubbish Words runs from 18-20 October at Leeds Corn Exchange and will see wordsmiths unleashing their creativity using recyclable materials such as magazines and newspapers.

The free event will have poet Sarah Dawson on hand to help with inspiration and is made possible thanks to funding from Leeds City Council’s Cultural Investment Programme Grow: Project strand and the University of Leeds.

It is open to all and will run from 10am-4pm each day, with the carefully crafted words then turned into an artwork.

Nick Barley, director of the National Poetry Centre, said he was looking forward to both seeing and hearing the results.

“I am thrilled to partner with Leeds City Council and the University of Leeds for this exciting project which is designed to engage and inspire many people, whether or not they have tried their hand at poetry before.

“Many people might not think of themselves as poets and yet can carefully turn a phrase into witty or even wise words and we’d like to see them at the event and see where their creativity takes them.

“Children and young people engage with poetry more often than we might realise, whether through nursery rhymes, in songs or in books. We want to remind them how much fun it can be to play with words.

“Everyone can be a poet.”

The event is part of Poetry School’s ‘Summit’ Festival, a landmark eco-poetry, nature and climate literature festival, which takes place on 19 October at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and 20 October at the University of Leeds Poetry Centre. The festival, which encompasses two days of readings, workshops, surgeries, and performances, includes the prestigious Laurel Prize ceremony.

The National Poetry Centre will be based in Leeds and bring people together from every community in every corner of the UK.

It is working with the University of Leeds to breathe life back into a landmark heritage building – Trinity St David’s, opening up the Grade II listed building as a new public space by 2027.

Professor Ben Walmsley, Dean of Cultural Engagement at the University of Leeds, said: “It’s fantastic to be a core partner in this pioneering national venture to breathe new life into one of the University’s most cherished buildings. We’re looking forward to working closely with the National Poetry Centre team and board to broaden access to and engagement with poetry, and Rubbish Words marks a great start on this exciting journey.”

The National Poetry Centre is looking for materials for this project. If you have any old posters, theatre programmes, packaging or anything else with words on it that you would be happy to donate then please email sarah@sarah-dawson.co.uk by 14 October.

The National Poetry Centre is the vision of Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and will bring poetry in line with other national art forms which have their own headquarters and venues.