Content Cottage with Keats-Shelley Memorial Trust

In 2022, three organisations came together to explore traditional poetry in the context of modern life, set in the English countryside.

Content Cottage is a digital literature project on Romantic Poetry, from the UK’s leading spoken word organisation, Apples and Snakes, in partnership with the Keats- Shelley Memorial Association and First Story.

The outcome of this project is digital resources, performances and a touring workshop in schools across London and the Midlands. The content of this work will be shared in the near future. The materials created were specifically aimed at GCSE and A-Level students.

During this project, three young ‘social influencers’ found themselves in a remote cottage with no internet access and only the complete poems of Keats and Shelley to entertain them. What begins as a search for Wifi becomes a journey of self discovery as our influencers reconnect with nature. They draw parallels between their own lives and work and that of the Romantic poets whilst embracing the beauty of the English countryside.

The Artists

Christy Ku

Christy is a multidisciplinary creative, focusing on poetry, performance and workshop facilitation.
She’s created poetry films, spoken word tracks and theatre shows with organisations such as the BBC, Sky Arts, Barbican and more.

Sophie Sparham

Sophie is a writer from Derby. She has written commissions for BBC Radio 4, The V&A and The People’s History Museum. Sophie co-hosts the poetry night ‘Word Wise’ which won Best Spoken Word Night at the 2019 Saboteur Awards

Adrian B. Earle

Adrian is a Writer, Poet, and Media Maker from Birmingham. He is Managing Director at Poetry Media Project VerseFirst Productions, where he produces the podcasts Why Poetry? and Alone Together. He is a Director & Creative Development Lead at the Poetry in Place App Overhear and a member of the Hippodrome Young Poets

What happened in the Schools

After getting creative in the woods, Content Cottage was brought to tour schools during October and November in 2022. The schools were offered:

• 1 free 45-minute blended live/digital performance at your school for 100+ Y9-Y13 students
• Free 2x 1-hour workshops at your school based on the performance for groups of 35 students, led by a critically-acclaimed poet
• 5 free lesson plans exploring Romantic Poetry and addressing all A-Level English Literature grading criteria
• Ongoing access to digital performance content for use in lessons
• Affiliation with the Keats Shelley Memorial Association schools network

Further Information