OTR is putting together a team of 13-16 year olds to take part in a national celebration of young people & poetry run by Apples & Snakes. WORDCUP 2026 is about inspiring you to express yourself and what’s important to you through writing and performance. It’s about raising self-esteem, working in a team and giving you a chance to represent who you are and where you come from. 

What is poetry to you, is it the way you communicate your experience of the world, is it an outlet to express, is it a way of speaking about what matters to you? It could be rap or grime lyrics, or the words to a song by your favourite RnB or indie band; it could be spoken word and open mics, or something that we haven’t thought about. In this project and in this team, you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with your peers, supported by professional poets and OTR staff. Poetry will be a way of bringing your voices together, a collective act. 

Poetry Workshops in Bristol 

You’ll take part in 8 poetry workshops in Bristol, led by poets Muneera Pilgrim and Kavien Sribalakrishnan. In these workshops you’ll get to know each other as a team, learn about crafting poetry, develop performance skills and build confidence in yourself as a poet and performer. We’re looking to build a team that represents different parts of Bristol – is there an area, identity or experience of Bristol you want to talk about, speak to, or represent?  We know you have things to say, and your words deserve a stage. 

Performing Poetry at a Celebration Event in London Once you’ve built your confidence and crafted your poems, we’ll be going on a trip to London to take part in a national celebration event with everyone else involved in this project across the country. You’ll meet other poets, take part in workshops, and perform you poetry as a team at the Southbank Centre. 

Here’s a video from a previous WORDCUP to give you a sense of the feeling and atmosphere of the celebration event:

Does this cost anything? 

This project is entirely free for you – this includes the poetry workshops in Bristol, and the London trip (travel, food, accommodation). We can also support with travel costs to and from the Bristol workshops if this is a barrier to you. 

Why take part? 

• Have time and space to develop your poetry and performance skills 

• Be part of a small community and get to know others with similar interests 

• Receive support, inspiration and encouragement from professional poets and OTR staff 

• A trip to London where you’ll meet other poets and be celebrated 

• Support your wellbeing through creative expression 

• Say things you want to say, and be heard 

How to get involved: 

You can sign up for yourself  

If this sounds up your street, we’d love to hear from you. Please click the sign-up button which will take you to a small application form. This helps us get to know you and what you’d want to get out of this project. It’s not about how much poetry you’ve written or performed before. We’re looking for different experiences and ideas. We want to bring together a range of people who we imagine will work well together as a team. So let us know what you care about and what excites you! 

If there’s anything you don’t feel confident about, or if there’s a voice in your head saying you want to do this, but you don’t know if you’re the right person, please apply anyway. We’ll be there to support you build skills and confidence as we go.   

You can nominate someone else 

If you know someone who might not put themselves forward for this opportunity, you can nominate them. Please ask them if they’re happy for you to do this first, and make sure they give consent for you to share their contact details with us. Then click the sign-up button and select the nomination pathway. 

We’ll build a team of people with a range of experiences who we imagine will work well together. Once you’ve filled out this form, we’ll be in touch with next steps. 

There are 8 spaces available for the trip to London. For anyone wanting to take part but unable to come to London, we may be able to offer a few additional places on the Bristol workshops. 

Any Questions? 

If you have any questions about the project or the sign-up process, or anything you want to chat about then email isla@otrbristol.org.uk