The unique experiences of people who work in or use public sector professions will be amplified with the reopening of a poetry initiative supported by University of Northampton.
Public Sector Poetry founder Korrin Smith-Whitehouse, a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University created the initiative for professionals working in the public sector – such as care, education, health, social work, policing, and probation – to share their experiences and insights through writing poetry.
Now in its fourth year, Korrin has collated and published three issues of poems and has opened submissions for the next volume. The theme is Belonging: Race, Immigration, and Asylum.
Korrin welcomes submissions from first, second, or third-generation immigrants studying for, working in, or who are retired from the public sector and have a story to share.
Korrin says: “After a hiatus, I am very pleased to officially open submissions for the next edition of Public Sector Poetry. Poems have always been welcomed from diverse storytellers, but for the next edition, I want to champion the voices of immigrants to the UK public sector.
“The poems can be from immigrants who will be, are, or have been public sector professionals, or those whose family members have immigrated to the UK.
“Colleagues or service users may be asylum seekers or immigrants whose contributions or challenges you want to highlight.
“You don’t need to be a poetry expert or have even written a poem before; you just need to have an interesting story to share and a passion for doing so creatively and having fun in the process.
“The deadline for submissions is Friday 15 January 2026 and, as ever, I look forward to reading and enjoying them.”
For more about the submissions and to enter your own poetry, see the PSP website.