NEARLY £30,000 is going to be spent in Dorset on a scheme to get young people writing and performing poetry.

The county is to get a Young Poet Laureate and several poets in residence.

£29,950 has been given by the Arts Council as part of the preparations for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Bridport Arts Centre and Dorset County Council’s library service are now looking for a project co-ordinator to work with so-called ‘lead poet’ Elvis McGonagall (otherwise known as performance poet Richard Smith).

Events, activities and workshops will start this Autumn. The towns of Bridport, Sherborne and Swanage and the borough of Weymouth and Portland are going to be assigned poets. The poets’ job will be to inspire, mentor and work with young people towards a grand slam at Bridport Literary Festival in 2011.

The 21-month scheme is called Off the Page.

In a statement, Sharon Kirkpatrick, Dorset County Council senior manager – reading and learning, said: “Off the Page will inspire young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to develop a passion for words and poetry in a dynamic setting outside of the classroom.

“It will leave a legacy for poetry and literature for years to come and form a key element of the Cultural Olympiad celebrations for 2012.”

Lindsay Brooks, Director of Bridport Arts Centre, stated: “We are delighted to have the opportunity through Off the Page to introduce young people to the delights of the written and spoken word.

“Performance poetry is dynamic, daring, exciting and fun and we will create lots of opportunities for young people to get involved.”

Editor’s Note: Like the £45,000 (plus travel expenses) being spent on a PhD studentship into Jurassic Coast carnivals, this is one of those schemes that has the potential to divide opinion.

On the one hand, it can be seen as a very good thing indeed that some attention is being paid to poetry in Dorset. Poetry is not mentioned once – not once – in the Dorset Cultural Strategy 2009-2014 – and the strategy’s vision, never let us forget, is that Dorset should soon lead the world in placing culture at the heart of quality of life.

On the other hand, you might wonder how much of the £29,950 will be taken up by the project co-ordinator.

Or whether it really will “leave a legacy for poetry and literature for years to come.”

That word “legacy” is one of the most politically charged words in Dorset.

How exactly might it be defined here, do you think?