More than 150 years after Newcastle poet and songwriter James Horsley published his famous Lays of Jesmond collection, another local poet aims to revive interest in Jesmond verse at a monthly meet-up that begins next month.

Steven Morris will launch his poetry-sharing group on March 1st at 2pm. The monthly meetings will be held at Jesmond Library and Morris says it is open to people from all age groups, genders and backgrounds.

Morris works as a volunteer at the library and says he often notices the poetry section is ignored. Yet poetry, he argues, is “a great way to express yourself” and he advocates for the importance of both listening to and writing poetry.  

A three-times-published poet, Morris caught the poetry bug while studying A levels in 1988. By September 1990 he had written his first poem and his latest book of poetry was published in 2019. According to Morris, poetry can be a way of expressing intense feelings of love, but can also be a means of coping with episodes of anxiety and depression – especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people experienced mental health struggles.

For some people, the joy of poetry is lost at school when they are made to study it for exams. At university it can be over-complicated by academics, while aspiring poets can sometimes find the publishing industry elitist, with many barriers to getting published. Morris recalls how he had to go to an Austrian publication company, Novum, to get his first two books published.

But poetry can simply be a fun new hobby too – an opportunity for people to meet others with a shared interest in writing. Morris says he expects some people will be a little nervous at the outset and plans to introduce the group to some other poets to help inspire creativity.