Residency · 2020–22
Poet-in-residence, Imperial College London
I worked with researchers to make new poems, crowdsourced poetry from the public at Imperial Lates, and ran sessions for youth groups, elder groups, and staff. Find out more
Dan Simpson
Writer · Performer · Educator
Poems for places, and the people in them.
I write and perform new work for history and heritage sites, museums and scientific institutions, festivals and conferences, in schools and universities — and one football club. I also run workshops that get people of all ages writing, from classrooms to the general public to staff teams.
Worked with
and the National Memorial Arboretum, Glastonbury Festival, A New Direction, the Royal Academy of Arts, the National Museum of Scotland, and Chichester Festival Theatre.
Selected work
Residencies · Commissions & projects · Education & community · Publications & performances
Training programme · 2023–25
Talent in the Ranks, National Memorial Arboretum
Made during my two-year residency: creative writing and performance training for serving personnel and veterans, bringing facilitation, teaching, writing, and performance together in one programme. Watch the film
Commission · 2025
A Poem for Your Club, Crystal Palace FC
I wrote a poem for the club I've supported for more than 30 years. It came out of A Poem for Your Club: workshops with fans alongside the National Literacy Trust and the Palace for Life Foundation, and a finished poem performed on a matchday. Watch the poem
Residencies
I embed in cultural, heritage, and scientific settings, where I write new work, run workshops, host events, and bring audiences and staff into the writing.
- National Memorial ArboretumTwo-year residency: poems, performances, and workshops for the public, schools, and veterans2023–25
- St Albans CathedralCommissioned poems, hosting public events, community and school workshops2020–21
- Glastonbury FestivalCommissioned poems and performance, films for social media2020–21
- National Trust, StoweResponsive poetry for a walking tour and book, public and school workshops, hosting events2019–20
Take my hand, my love, and let us wander
along this path of grass as if it was
made just for us…
Commissions & projects
I make new work for page and stage about science, history, place, and everyday life — often producing the project myself.
- On the CottonLondon's black cab history in poetry: pairing poets and cab drivers to write and perform original work. Funded by Arts Council England, with support from the London Transport Museum and The Poetry Society2022–23
- Experimental WordsA science-poetry project pairing poets and scientists to devise live performances and a spoken word album. Funded by Arts Council England, with editions in Manchester, Edinburgh, London, Canterbury, and Chicago2016–21
- Kielder ObservatoryKielder Narratives, writing inspired by astrophysics and the unique landscape and its people2023
- Potteries Museum & Art GalleryThe Staffordshire Hoard reimagined through poetry and workshops2022
- Canterbury LaureateFor Canterbury Festival: school workshops, editing an anthology, and hosting events2013–14
- Future Theatre Makers, Chichester Festival TheatreA 20-month programme developing my first ensemble show, exploring clowning and comedy2025–27
We speak with the voice of a million beings
a chorus growing from sapling to timber
the sharp breath as our roots are shoved into soil
a slow gentle hum as we grow through the decades
Education & community
I lead creative writing workshops and coach performing skills in primary and secondary schools, libraries, and community settings. I also facilitate professional development sessions and mentor emerging creative practitioners.
- The Poetry SocietySchool workshops, and the We Are Language resource
- A New DirectionBeing With Me, a film resource on permission and consent
- ArvonA primary school writing programme, and CPD for teachers
- Ideas TestMake Waves, mentoring 18–25-year-old creatives in Medway2023–25
- Beyond the ArtMy own course in creative facilitation, for artists and practitioners
- Spoken Word PowerPerformance and writing training, with Eastside Arts
don’t fill your heart with words.
Fill your words with heart:
let them skip beats
Publications & performances
Two collections from Burning Eye Books, plus residency pamphlets, and poems in anthologies from Macmillan, Bloomsbury, and the National Trust. On stage, I’ve performed at Glastonbury Festival and the Southbank Centre, on the BBC, alongside the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and taken five shows to Edinburgh Fringe.
- Poetry Prescription: Wild RemedyMacmillan, 2025
- Masculinity: An Anthology of Modern VoicesBroken Sleep Books, 2024
- National Trust Book of Nature PoemsNational Trust, 2023
- I Bet I Can Make You LaughBloomsbury, 2018
You are pure mathematics
but applied together
we are poetry in motion.
Dan is a force of nature. He is dynamic and engaging. He will talk to anyone, but importantly listens to what they are saying. He transformed an idea we had for community engagement imaginatively and was simply a pleasure to work with. He is also a wonderful performer.
Professor Ray LaurenceUniversity of Kent
Dan is an amazing facilitator and artist – empathetic, compassionate and curious. His work on the Kielder Narratives project encapsulated the unique wonder of Kielder, connecting with all the different communities and drawing out their stories and weaving a spellbinding fable of Kielder. Would absolutely work with Dan again.
Catherine JohnsCEO, Kielder Observatory
He instantly created a warm and welcoming environment, putting even the most anxious individuals at ease and eliciting thoughtful, complex poetry from students who had never seen themselves as English students, let alone as poets.
Charlotte MontagueHead of English, Wellington College International
Watch & listen
Talent in the RanksResidency · National Memorial Arboretum
Talent in the Ranks
Creative training with serving personnel and veterans.
Kielder NarrativesCommission · Kielder Observatory
Kielder Narratives
Poetry inspired by astrophysics and the dark skies of Northumberland.
Rise Like an EagleCommission · Crystal Palace FC
Rise Like an Eagle
A poem for Palace, made with fans for the Palace for Life Foundation.
Shape PoemPerformance · Process Productions
Shape Poem
A spoken word performance filmed by Process Productions.
Being With MeEducation · A New Direction
Being With Me
A film resource on permission and consent for relationships education and PSHE.
Under the HawthornResidency · National Trust, Stowe
Under the Hawthorn
A poetic response to the Grecian Valley at Stowe.
Listen: the Experimental Words album, a spoken word record made with poets and scientists, is on Bandcamp.
About
I'm Dan, a writer, performer, and educator based in Brighton. I believe words shape how we connect with ourselves, with each other, and with the places we share.
I've written poems with scientists in their labs, with veterans at the National Memorial Arboretum, and with London cabbies about the history of their trade. I've documented a five-day walk to Canterbury, and read poems to commuters at Waterloo who definitely weren't expecting it. My favourite projects invite people in to write, speak, and play, rather than sit and listen.
I am currently part of Chichester Festival Theatre's Future Theatre Makers programme, developing work for the stage.
- Based
- Brighton & Hove, working across the UK and beyond
- Book me for
- Residencies, commissions, performances, conference poems, workshops, school visits, and projects that don't fit a category yet
- Also
- Educator for RSHE provider Split Banana, and trainer for Olly’s Future and Start the Conversation. Facilitation and training for organisations at dansimpson.uk
Contact
Got a project in mind?
Whether the idea is fully formed or still a sentence in a funding application, I'm happy to talk it through.
hello@dansimpsonwords.co.uk 07703 013 052
Most people get in touch about
- A residencyWeeks or months in a place, making work with the people in it
- A commissionA poem for an occasion, a place, an exhibition, or a campaign
- A performanceA one-off gig, festivals, conferences, and launches, including poems written live from the room
- WorkshopsOne session or a whole series, in schools, communities, or workplaces