First spoken word festival by Empoword lauded a 'monumental' success

More than 50 people turned up for Empoword’s first written and spoken word festival in Slough last week.

The ‘day of literary delights’ at The Curve featured a line-up of seven different events from interactive storytelling for youngsters to a live event featuring acclaimed poets.

The EPF Poetry Fest on Saturday, December 2 was a ‘poetic symphony’ brings together poets, artists and book stalls from diverse backgrounds.

Event producer and artist, Desree said: “All of our workshops were filled to the brim. People wanted to go to every single workshop, even if they slightly overlapped. They would leave early or try to get into workshops which is really good.

“We get people from all over the UK, but to have this event where people from Slough showed up and were excited and engaged – it felt very important and monumental. If it was to happen again, it’d be much bigger.

“The live event at the end was joyful and ended with music from House of Zhané. People were up on their feet and dancing.”

The line-up also included Curious Places led by Claire Dyer, a storytelling workshop with Nina Telegina and ‘Letters to my Baby Fathers’ by Claudine Cheri.

The EPF Poetry Fest was 18 months in the making and organisers said the event was a ‘testament to the power of poetry to connect and uplift communities’.

Before the event, Desree told the Express: “I would love for them to leave inspired and have experienced a range of diverse voices.”

Speaking afterwards, Desree said the success of the first event has left organisers immediately starting conversations about future festivals.  

She said the artists leading the workshops appreciated the ‘new’ environment at EPF Poetry Fest which was different to other literary festivals they had previously attended.

Several local writers and authors attended on the day and Desree hoped attendees took away ‘an appreciation for the beauty and power of words’.