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In conversation with Cecilia Knapp

Meet Cecilia Knapp – City Bridge Foundation’s first ever poet-in-residence, appointed in June 2024 after a search which yielded over 170 applications

Cecilia Knapp with Tower Bridge in the background.

It’s Knapp time! Meet our new poet…

Cecilia, our first poet-in-residence, grew up in Brighton, moved to London in 2011 and now lives in Hackney. She was Young People’s Laureate for London in 2020 and had her first collection of poetry, Peach Pig, published in 2022.

How does it feel to be City Bridge Foundation poet-in-residence?

It feels really exciting because it’s a completely new role and is really creatively fulfilling to be able to design what the role could be and what it can do for London.

What do you hope to achieve during your year?

I want to get a broad sense of what’s going on in London and all the amazing work people are doing to improve the lives of Londoners and the environment we live in.

It’s really encouraging and inspiring to see how many amazing initiatives City Bridge Foundation funds across London. I’m excited to be able to use poetry to connect with and celebrate those communities, as well as the bridges and how they connect people. I would also like to find unusual and exciting ways to use poetry to talk about the city we live in.

Is there something about bridges that particularly lends itself to poetry?

A bridge is a poetic concept – it’s the idea of connecting people and poetry is a great connector, so using poetry to talk about bridges, and the people that use them, feels like a natural fit.

I am inspired by what’s going on in the world around me. At the moment, a lot of my writing is about how the world can feel like a cruel place for some people and how young people in particular feel a lot of worry and anxiety about things like the climate crisis.

Cecilia

How did you get into poetry?

The idea of poetry as a job or a community wasn’t really on my radar until about 12 years ago when I started attending workshops for young people at The Roundhouse. It was really eye-opening because it felt like it was giving permission for us to write about things that mattered to us. I was immediately hooked, and from there I started going to poetry nights and realised what a rich and vibrant poetry community there is in London.

Do you think poetry is still seen as inaccessible or is that perception changing?

I do think people sometimes have that impression. They think poetry is about having to comply with stringent rules and there’s a close affiliation between poetry and academia, which can feel intimidating, but poetry began with the people, as an oral tradition.

Through working with young people I think there’s a real excitement around poetry and hopefully a shift in that perception that poetry is only for a certain type of person.

What have been the highlights of your career so far (apart from getting this job, of course)?

Being Young People’s Laureate for London in 2020 was great as it was about bringing poetry to more young people and encouraging them to use poetry as a way of thinking, to understand the world and express themselves on their own terms. Also, when my first poetry book came out, that was the first tangible product of 10 years’ work so it was amazing to hold that in my hand.

Being Young People’s Laureate for London in 2020 was great as it was about bringing poetry to more young people and encouraging them to use poetry as a way of thinking, to understand the world and express themselves on their own terms.

Cecilia

What benefits can poetry have for individuals and society?

Poetry offers a way of expressing things that are very complex and overwhelming and which we don’t have the language for in our everyday vocabulary. That’s what makes a poem such an exciting thing – it doesn’t have to follow the rules of normal life.

Through that freedom and malleability of language, we can use poetry to think about things that are difficult to think about. Finding a way to express things that are really important to you is a very empowering thing, especially for people whose voices historically may have been marginalised.

What inspires you in your poetry?

I am inspired by what’s going on in the world around me. At the moment, a lot of my writing is about how the world can feel like a cruel place for some people and how young people in particular feel a lot of worry and anxiety about things like the climate crisis.

I try and express what I see in a way that others might be able to connect with, to concretise’ it so that it feels like it makes a bit more sense.

Are there any other poets that particularly inspire you?

So many! I love poets like Frank O’Hara. He’s a good example of someone who writes completely in his own way and using his own voice. When you see that, it feels like it gives you permission to find your own way in poetry rather than the way you may have been taught at school.

When I was younger I was really inspired by poets I saw read their work live at poetry nights. I’ve got a lot of love for incredible performers like Joelle Taylor and Salena Godden – people who have their own voice as poets and are also really nurturing to young poets coming up.

That’s why I think things like residencies and laureateships are so important as they help cast the web of poetry wider and inspire more people to have a go at poetry.

What advice would you give to people starting out as a poet?

Try not to worry too much about getting it right, being perfect or making an impression – just write as it comes to you. Try and foster a sense of freedom or excitement as to what you might discover as you keep the pen moving.

What’s the best thing about London?

The people. There’s so much going on and it’s the people who live here who bring that amazing energy and creativity. I also think it’s a very compassionate city, despite what people sometimes say about things like people not talking to each other on the Tube. It’s been really fortifying for me as I’ve started doing research for this role to learn about the amazing work so many people do to keep London moving and to make it a fairer place.

Learn more about Cecilia on her website at www.ceciliaknapp.com