Well, we've had a hiccup in our funding arrangements. We submitted a funding application to Arts Council England, knowing that even though we have been funded for more than 20 years and have always delivered what we've promised, there was no guarantee that we'd be funded again. And when it came to it, we weren't. They said that it was a very strong application with no weaknesses and no risk areas - but they've been overwhelmed with the number of funding applications and just can't support everything. They encouraged us to resubmit - and we did, in the middle of November.
If we do get funding for 2022-2024, it won't start until mid-April, so between now and then there will, I'm afraid, be a pause in our activities. Let's hope that we are awarded the funding this time round, and we can start everything up again in the spring.
Meanwhile, our last few activities of the current period have gone ahead. Nick Degg and Brenda Read-Brown provided Stoke Libraries with their first live event since the first lockdown. Not surprisingly, only a small (but select) audience attended, but quite a few more watched the live stream - a new venture for Stoke - and everyone enjoyed this two mutliple slam winners, with their very different styles.
Jonny Fluffypunk braved the snow to write poems on demand in Coventry, and Kuli Kohli ran a workshop at Foleshill library, also in Coventry. Roz Goddard ran a poetry walk in Dudley.
And finally, four poets (Stave Pottinger, Emma Purshouse, Aliyah Begum and Trica Green) got together for a performance in West Bromwich library - greatly enjoyed by, again, a small audience.
And that's it from Poetry on Loan for a while. Have an excellent Christmas, and - let's hope - a peaceful New Year.