Projects

James’s approach to poetry and openness to collaboration have led to a wide body of work and continued involvement in a variety of artistic projects.

James was Poet-in-Residence on the Heritage Lottery-funded ‘Crossing Bridges’ project with Northfield Arts Forum. The project aimed to engage residents of the Kings Norton area of Birmingham with the history of their locality. Within his role as Poet-in-Residence, James produced commissioned poems for the permanent Arts Trail in Kings Norton Park; devised and performed interactive drama; led workshops, and engaged the public in telling the stories of the past and present experiences of their community.

James was part of Beatfreeks’ inaugural BAIT (or Birmingham Artivists in Training) cohort, an artistic and professional development programme for Midlands artists with a socially-engaged practice. The programme involved a year under the mentorship of TS Eliot Prize-winning poet Roger Robinson.

A performer with a risk-taking and experimental approach, James’s live work has been showcased at Verve Festival, the Cheltenham Poetry Festival, Spill Festival’s Think Tank Club, and Birmingham REP. He has also created live site-specific poetry work to commission, including for Free Radical’s Festival of Audacity. James created and hosted the experimental poetry night ‘Every Name Under the Sun’ at Birmingham’s Artefact Projects.

James’s current project is an exploration of depictions of dementia through experimental approaches to publishing, and has been funded by Arts Council England. It will see the forthcoming publication of a new print project.