To stretch the boundaries of poetry in education and performance, by inspiring participation and giving voice to a diverse range of dynamic spoken word artists
Run by a board of trustees chaired by Kerry Featherstone,[2] Apples and Snakes has been a registered charity since 1986.[7] It currently receives more than £400,000 funding annually, as a national portfolio organisation, from Arts Council England.[8]
History
Apples and Snakes was launched in 1982,[9] with its first poetry performance, at the Adam's Arms pub in Conway Street in central London.[10] It is currently one of the organisations resident at the Free Word Centre.[11]
In 1984, it organised a poetry performance at Glastonbury Festival and at Elephant Fayre, Cornwall. A Miner’s Benefit concert was organised at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, the same year. An Anti-Apartheid benefit was organised at the Southbank in 1985.
In 2001, it organised a performance poetry event on London Buses.[12] In 2013, it organised a series of events for young poets on climate change.[13] In conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery and the National Literacy Trust, it organised a series of poetry events designed to complement Picture the Poet, a photographic exhibition that was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery and, in autumn 2014, at Sheffield's Graves Art Gallery.[14][15]
Publications
Apples & Snakes: Raw and Biting Cabaret Poetry published 1984 by Pluto Press, design by Neville Brady. Second edition published 1987.
In 1993, Black Spring Press published Velocity: The Best of Apples & Snakes, an anthology of works by contemporary poets who had performed for Apples and Snakes.[17]
