Celebrating national poetry day with the launch of quay words and libraries unlimited writer-in-residence tolu agbelusi’s poem ‘The women as usual were the beginners of the disturbance’

21st April 2022

In spring 2021 Libraries Unlimited and Quay Words invited Tolu Agbelusi to be their shared writer-in-residence at Exeter Library and Exeter Custom House, with the aim of exploring the stories of Exeter’s remarkable women.

We commissioned Tolu to write a poem in response to this film. On National Poetry Day 2021, we’re pleased to launch ‘The Women As Usual Were the Beginners of the Disturbance’. You can watch and hear Tolu perform the poem in the film below. You can find out more about Tolu’s work and her process in the podcast.

Literature Works’ CEO Helen and Libraries Unlimited’s Karen Huxtable caught up with Tolu to discuss her residency and the poem she wrote in a shared ‘Quay Words’ and ‘Exeter Library in conversation with’podcast. Listen to the podcast via Soundcloud below, or find it on your Apple or Google devices. Enjoy!