Staffordshire Poetry Collection

Libraries & Arts Service worked with past Staffordshire Poet Laureate, Bert Flitcroft, to develop Staffordshire's first Poetry Collection. 

To form a cultural identity for Staffordshire by creating a picture of the county in words, the poems come from a whole range of different people from all over the County.

Staffordshire is a beautiful and diverse county, and this diversity is part of its appeal. We have the engine of the potteries in the north, areas of natural beauty such as Cannock Chase and The Moorlands, provincial towns each with a rich history, and in between the county is criss-crossed with country roads, lanes and canals that link hundreds of villages and hamlets.

We have of course a rich heritage of poetry going back centuries, but we wished to create a feeling of life in Staffordshire as it is today. The poems in the collection are therefore contemporary and as varied in form and tone and content as the county itself.- Bert Flitcroft

An exhibition showcasing the collection toured library venues across Staffordshire to show the collaboration between local residents, poets, photographers, artists and lead photographer Dawn Jutton. Images on display complemented the poems, combining photography and poetry inspired by Staffordshire.

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