23 March 2019
Posted by Lucy Pearce
Poetry
11-14 Age Group, 13 Attending
Kicking off poetry week the young writers were encouraged to discuss their favourite poems, giving Tammy and I a welcome challenge as most admitted they weren't fans of any. To battel this - and hopefully change their minds - we read and analysed a variety of poems, from Jo Shapcott's Callisto's Song, to Lewis Carroll's The Mouse's Tale and explored how poems didn't have to follow the expected structure and writing techniques.
With this in mind, the young writers then put pen to paper and wrote poems, both in a group and individually, in any style they wanted, taking inspiration from the poems they had read. When reading these out, it was amazing how many of the writers had a natural flow for poetry, and their enthusiasm gave the impression that we had successfully converted them!
Millie wrote:
Dominating the midnight ocean
Letting the stars drown
Before her side of darkness the cower
Her imperious aura suffocating them
She takes my breath away
And keeps it for herself
At my darkest hour
She burns brightest
I should have known
When I swore by the stars
It would be the moon to
hold me to my word in the end
And though she wishes me nothing but harm
I let go and fell into her arms.
15-18 Age Group, 8 Attending
Similar to the 11-14 year-olds, the writers analysed poems such as Anne Carson's The Glass Essay and Robert Lewis Stevenson's From A Railway Carriage, and discussed 'what makes a poem' - which quickly divided the room into writers who loved rhyme, and writers who did not. We talked about how important the space on a page is, and how this can be explored by the physical structure of a poem.
The group then wrote a collective poem, taking a line at a time, creating:
Rain was falling. In the city
there
I ran
to the skyscrapers.
There are so many people, yet I am so alone.
I remembered
the
eyes aren't windows
but windows are eyes.
But still,
I ran.
Stealing inspiration from a word/theme/image found in the poems we previously read, the writers wrote then wrote their own poetry, some even completing numerous.
Thomas's brilliant poem Rage. Rage. is shown in the picture above.
Archive
Junior & Young Writers Week 3: Return From The Magical World
Junior & Young Writers Week 2: African Mythology
Problems, Problems, Problems...
Cautionary Tales & Christmassy Opening Lines
You've Gotta Have Pace, Pace, Pace
Junior & Young Writers Week 1: Alien Encounters
Junior & Young Writers: Week 5 - Play on Words Pt. 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 - end of term showcase [build a bard workshop]
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 - Greek Theatre - chorus stories
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 - Greek Origin Stories - Spring
Rubber Ducks & Writing Festivals
Junior & Young Writers: Week 7 - Greek Hero Stories [the 12 labours of Hercules]
Junior & Young Writers: Week 12 [Wild Words] - Stuff & Things
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 [Wild Words] - World Building 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 [Wild Words] - World Building
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 [Wild Words] - Mystery & Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior & Young Writers: Week 8 [Wild Words] - Spooky Sequels & Potion Poems
Junior & Young Writers – Week 10 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Final Showcase
Junior & Young Writers – Week 9 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Editing & Performance Tips
Junior & Young Writers – Week 8 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Cuteness
Time goes on by Tavinder Kaur New
Junior & Young Writers – Week 7 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Natural Solutions
Junior & Young Writers – Week 6 (Writers’ Inspiration) – The Language of Fruit and Veg
Junior & Young Writers – Week 5 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Adventures In Space
Tinklebobs and Bedraggled Angles
Junior & Young Writers – Week 4 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Our Environment
Fortune Tellers & Future Letters
Junior & Young Writers – Week 3 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Home
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
Young Writers - Week 5 (The Art of Writing) - Poetry Potions
Edward The Martyr - A Competition!
Mood Boards and Postcards from Space
Young Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Junior Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Moomin Stories and Hollywood Pitches
Young Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Junior Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Prompts, Dialogues, and Cliché
Story Structure Part One: Exposition and Beyond...
Young Writers - Week 1 (The Art of Writing) - Character
Young Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Junior Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Young Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Junior Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
