I enjoyed hearing Poet Laureate Simon Armitage's poem 'Ark' on BBC Radio 4 this week. The poem was written to commemorate the launch of the UK's new polar research ship, the 'Sir David Attenborough'. Here is a clip of Simon Armitage reading the poem: https://twitter.com/BBCr4today/status/1177172927478976513 and here is a link to the poem on … Continue reading Poetry responding to Climate Change: Simon Armitage
My weekly visits to St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath, have come to an end now that the school year has finished. I'm grateful to Headteacher, Ann Cusack, for inviting me to be Writer in Residence for a year, and to all students and staff who welcomed me to the school community and ensured that I … Continue reading Thoughts on how to set up a residency #writerinschool
I wanted to write a few posts before my residency at St Gregory's Catholic College ends, especially mentioning poems that prompted a lot of animated discussion and produced some exciting creative writing from school students. 'Other Clouds' by Rebecca Perry from her collection Beauty/Beauty (Bloodaxe, 2015) and 'what my mother (a poet) might say' by Mary … Continue reading Poems that find a way to say what isn’t said #writerinschool
I am so proud of the young poets who took to the stage to read their work on the outdoor stage in busy Southgate, Bath, on Saturday, 19th May for Bath Festival. There is a lovely write-up and a few pictures on the school blog.
I'm back at St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath, for my final term as Writer in Residence and I thought I'd mention two poems which students have particularly enjoyed. Both are about creatures - one about a wasp, and one about seagulls. The students loved reading the poems and they've written brilliant poems in response. … Continue reading Using Rebecca Perry’s ‘Wasp’ and Brian McCabe’s ‘Seagull’ in a poetry workshop — #writerinschool
I can hardly believe that after Easter, I'll be starting my final term as Writer in Residence at St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath. The time has whizzed by. This term, as well as reading and writing poetry, students have written crime fiction, particularly looking at very short stories (flash fiction). We received the good news … Continue reading The end of another term of writing at St Gregory’s
I'm coming to the end of my first term as Writer in Residence at St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath. As you know, I've been using this blog as a place to document my work there. Previous posts include Beginning to Write Poetry With Secondary School Students, Reading and Writing Poems about Where I'm From, National Poetry … Continue reading Thinking about sound and other senses. #writerinschool
I enjoy browsing through poetry books on the look out for poems that I think will work well in a workshop. As I mentioned before, the theme for National Poetry Day this year is 'Freedom' so I've been looking for suitable poems to take into St Gregory's Catholic College where I'm working as Writer in … Continue reading Poetry Workshop Ideas: The Long Holidays by Esther Morgan #writerinschool
I'm using this blog as a notebook to record my time working with students at St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath, as Writer in Residence. I'll use the tag 'writer in school' so you should be able to find my posts here by using that search term. It's still early days in my residency, I'm now … Continue reading Beginning to write poetry with secondary school students #writerinschool
Trowbridge Town Hall was awash with poets and artists on National Poetry Day, October 6 2016. Ten local schools each sent small groups of children and a member of staff to take part in my poetry and art workshops which I ran with artist Ben Midgley. In addition, poets from Trowbridge Poetry Society Stanza group took part, … Continue reading National Poetry Day at Trowbridge Town Hall
