SPOKEN-WORD artist Laura Baldwin is using a Bradford Council ‘Covid Response’ arts and culture grant to host a project encouraging poets, rappers and other artists to be creative in lockdown.

The spoken word video competition, which has an extended deadline until June 16, celebrates the launch of #ProjectHope which, says Laura, “seeks to leave nobody behind” after lockdown.

Entrants could win £100 and the chance to perform alongside established artists.

The online competition is open to anyone, from beginners to professionals. Poets, rappers and spoken word artists are invited to upload a maximum two-minute video of their piece with the theme ‘Hope’ .

An online awards evening is due to take place on Thursday, July 2. Winners will be offered the chance to perform alongside guest artists on the night by performing their spoken word piece live online or having their video played at the event.

Guest artists will include Nick Conroy, a Hull poet whose books include Ghosts and Organics in a Vacuum; Matt Abbott, poet, educator and activist from Wakefield whose books are Two Little Ducks and A Hurricane in my Head; Sharena Lee Satti , a poet from Bradford whose work appears in the books Testing Times, Broken Chains and Unapologetic. Her latest works are currently in publication with Verve Press.

Also performing at the online event are Rose Condo, spoken word artist and slam poetry champion from Salford, who tours with three one-woman shows; The Geography of Me, How To Starve An Artist and most recently The Empathy Experiment.

* Submit entries for the spoken word competition to YouTube using the hashtags #ProjectHope and #Words2020.

The competition is free to enter and the deadline is Tuesday, June 16.

For more details go to word-spoken.com/projecthope