WordAid is a Kent-based collective of published poets dedicated to fundraising for charity. As of March 2012 we have raised over £8000 for various charities.
WordAid members are: Patricia Debney, Jo Field, Nicky Gould, Jen Kahwatte and Vicky Wilson.
Vicky Wilson was the Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2007–2008 and is currently a member of the Canterbury Laureate Squad, charged with stimulating writing in schools and the wider community. Her poems have been published in her collection Line Dancing as well as in magazines and anthologies and she has performed her work in several venues in Kent and London. Vicky has worked in book and magazine publishing for 30 years and has a track-record of organising and producing events and publications for educational institutions and to raise money for charities.
Nicky Gould is currently studying an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent. Her poems have appeared in various publications and online. Her best writing experience so far was a six-week residency at the Little Blue Hut – a beach hut on Tankerton slopes. She works as a Youth Participation Officer, helping young people make a difference to their local communities. She lives near the sea in Whitstable, where she walks on the beach every day.
Jo Field moved from London to Deal in Kent in 2002. She is a member of several local writing groups and writes poetry and short fiction. Her work has been published in magazines and anthologies and has been successful in one or two competitions. Her collection of poems The Space Beyond on the theme of ageing and memory is the latest WordAid publication in aid of Dementia UK.
Jen Kahawatte recently completed her MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent. She is a member of Deal Writers and several informal writing groups. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in anthologies and she was a Bridport Poetry Prize runner-up in 2008. She is currently collating a collection of prose poetry by fellow MA students, which is a WordAid project in aid of Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF).
Patricia Debney is the author of a collection of prose poetry, How to Be a Dragonfly (Smith Doorstop Books, 2005), the overall winner of the 2004 Poetry Business Competition; and a novel, Losing You (bluechrome, 2007). She is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Kent, where she teaches on the undergraduate and MA programmes, and organises the university reading series. She lives in Canterbury with her partner, a composer, and their two children. Her blog, http://www.wavingdrowning.wordpress.com/, explores writing and family life with a type 1 diabetic teenager. She also writes a regular column for Balance, Diabetes UK’s bi-monthly magazine. In 2007/08 she was appointed Canterbury’s first Laureate.
WordAid is a collective of published poets working together to raise funds for charity. Our latest project is Not Only The Dark, an anthology of poetry on the theme of survival in aid of Shelterbox.
We still have copies left of previous publications:
slantways, a collection of prose poetry in aid of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - a charity that works to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes.
The Space Beyond, a collection of poetry on the themes of ageing and memory by WordAid member Jo Field in aid of Dementia UK
Jo Field moved from London to Deal in Kent in 2002. She is a member of several local writing groups and writes poetry and short fiction. Her work has been published in magazines and anthologies and has been successful in one or two competitions. Her collection of poems The Space Beyond on the theme of ageing and memory is the latest WordAid publication in aid of Dementia UK.
Jen Kahawatte recently completed her MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent. She is a member of Deal Writers and several informal writing groups. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in anthologies and she was a Bridport Poetry Prize runner-up in 2008. She is currently collating a collection of prose poetry by fellow MA students, which is a WordAid project in aid of Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF).
