Poet Sought to 'Celebrate' London Bridges

Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Poet Sought to 'Celebrate' London Bridges

Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Big Ben is shown with lights switched on after Earth Hour in London, Britain, March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

A poet is being sought to "celebrate" five of London's bridges as a charity hires a poet-in-residence for the first time in its 900-year history, the BCC reported.

The City Bridge Foundation said the job involves writing about the capital's major Thames crossings, their history and the role they play in the life of Londoners today.

The selected poet will be paid £10,000 for the year-long role, the BCC said.

The foundation said the job was "the only one of its kind anywhere.”

The City Bridge Foundation maintains five of the bridges leading into the City of London, which are Tower, London, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars bridges.

"For hundreds of years, our bridges have been central to the story of London during its happiest and its darkest moments, yet tributes to them in verse are surprisingly scarce," said foundation chairman Giles Shilson.

"Our new poet will celebrate the bridges' long history, their relationship with the city and the river and the vital role they play in the day-to-day life of modern Londoners."



China Launches Shenzhou-20 Mission to Chinese Space Station

The Shenzhou-20 space mission carried by the Long March 2F rocket launches at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, China, 24 April 2025.  EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
The Shenzhou-20 space mission carried by the Long March 2F rocket launches at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, China, 24 April 2025. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
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China Launches Shenzhou-20 Mission to Chinese Space Station

The Shenzhou-20 space mission carried by the Long March 2F rocket launches at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, China, 24 April 2025.  EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
The Shenzhou-20 space mission carried by the Long March 2F rocket launches at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, China, 24 April 2025. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

China sent three astronauts to its permanently inhabited space station on Thursday, in its 15th crewed spaceflight and the 20th overall in the Shenzhou program that started over three decades ago.
The spacecraft Shenzhou-20 and the crew lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 5:17 p.m. (0917 GMT), according to state broadcaster CCTV.
According to Reuters, state news agency Xinhua reported soon afterwards that the launch was successful.
The launch comes as China's advances in lunar and space exploration are drawing in more countries.
Pakistan is carrying out a preliminary selection of astronauts, one of whom will eventually be sent to space on a future Shenzhou spaceflight and become the first foreign astronaut to enter China's Tiangong space station.