Residents poetry featured across Gloucester

Performance poet Rizpah Amadasun said her poem in Gloucester Park took "10 minutes" to write

Poetry written by local residents has been stencilled and installed across Gloucester.

The words of about 30 local poets were selected to be supersized following a call for contributions in July.

The large-scale installations, entitled Of Earth and Sky, have been curated by Stroud-born artist Luke Jerram.

He said: "This is about connecting the people of Gloucestershire and after what we've been through, there has never been a better time to do so."

In some locations, like Gloucester Cathedral, a single line has been taken from a longer poem which can be read in full on the project's website

The poetry, which was inspired by everything from the frustration of lockdown to the love of Gloucester, has been installed at 31 different locations across the city.

Designed to blend with the landscape, the poems have either been stencilled on to lawns and pavements with chalk paint or "writ large" in large-scale wooden letters.

It took a team of 50 people four days to install the 1.2m (3.9ft) high wooden letters and to spray paint the prose across the city

The sites, including Rachael Kelly's poem at Robinswood Hill, were chosen to "ensure social distancing is possible at all times"

Gloucester Culture Trust, which commissioned the project, said the city had "become the backdrop for poetry of epic proportions" which it hoped would get people "to look differently" at it.

"They're in parks, they're on pavements, they're at Gloucester Cathedral and at the docks, these are words that have come from the community," said Josie Bamford, from the trust.

"It's positive and it's the words of Gloucestershire residents."

It is hoped the new trail, which includes Sajida Kathrada's poem on board The Sabrina in Gloucester Docks, will get people "to look differently at the city"

Designed to blend with the landscape, the installations appear at 31 different locations including St Mary de Crypt Church

Luke Jerram said it was "hugely exciting" seeing the "powerful poetry of the people of Gloucestershire take shape" in the city.

"But it's only now as it opens, when people can really engage and interact with the installations, that the work will truly come alive," he said.

The new sculpture trail will run until 1 November, 2020.

The poetry has been inspired by everything from the frustration of lockdown to the love of Gloucester

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