The Canal & River Trust and the Poetry Society have announced the appointment of the first ever ‘canal laureate'.  

Part of a wider partnership between the Canal & River Trust and Arts Council England, the appointment of poet Jo Bell (pictured) is designed to draw attention to the nation’s waterways and encourage people to see canals and rivers “in a new light”.

Bell’s role will be to engage new and existing audiences through community workshops, performances and blogs. She will write new verse inspired by the canals and rivers and will begin an ‘anthologising’ of the waterways by bringing in work by other poets.

“The appointment aims to attract more visitors to the waterways while surprising and delighting existing communities through exciting and innovative art projects,” a spokesperson for Canal & River Trust said in a statement.
 
“The Trust and the Poetry Society worked closely together to find the right candidate for the post.  Jo is a poet, archaeologist and boat-dweller, working all over the UK on poetry projects large and small.”

Bell recently held the role of director of National Poetry Day, and has also been Glastonbury Festival’s poet in residence and Cheshire poet laureate.

“Good poetry is about noticing,” the poet herself said.  “I want people who already know the canals to notice how lucky we are to have them.  For people who haven't really noticed them yet, I want to show them the still green space on their doorstep, full of wildlife and histories.” 

Canal and River Trust, which manages 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales, was formerly British Waterways, before re-branding and changing its name earlier this year.