Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate Faith Taylor and previous BBC Young Dancer finalist Matthew Rawcliffe were commissioned by Severn Arts to co-create a poetry and dance film, celebrating the role of libraries in our communities, particularly as hubs for younger people. Two films were created which you can watch below. The first is their final poetry and dance piece, the second takes you behind the scenes to hear more about the collaboration.

Working together for the first time, Faith and Matthew’s collaboration explored how the artforms of poetry and dance connect and allow stories to be told.

By bringing together two talented young artists and capturing their creative performances on film in Bromsgrove Library, we hope to encourage young people to see our libraries as spaces for them to use creatively.

As Worcestershire’s Young Poet Laureate 2021, Faith Taylor has judged and performed at Verve Poetry Festival in Birmingham, met poet and author Roger McGough, written poems for the ‘One of the Heard’ anthology and performed her work across Worcestershire.

As well as being a former BBC Young Dancer finalist, Matthew Rawcliffe was commissioned by The Arches Festivals to develop a new dance piece called Crisp Sandwich Café for Same But Different festival in July 2021.