On Thursday 7^th December, the English department took 110 year 11 students to ‘Poetry Live!’ at the Apollo Theatre in Victoria, London.

The conference gave students the opportunity to listen to a chief examiner’s advice on how to approach unseen poems in their English Literature exam and they had the privilege to see perform a number of acclaimed poets such as Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy; the enigmatic John Agard and firm favourite with the crowd Daljit Nagra.  The seven poets that participated during the day read aloud a number of their own poems – including those on the AQA ‘Love and Relationships’ specification that we study.  They discussed their inspiration and answered questions from members of the audience.  It was fascinating to learn, for example, that the extended metaphor of space and measurement in Simon Armitage’s ‘Mother, any Distance’ was inspired by his mother literally holding one end of a tape measure at the bottom of a house they were measuring up while he stood at the roof holding on to the other end.

Students particularly enjoyed joining in with Grace Nichols’ Baby-K Rap Rhyme and listening to Daljit Nagra’s Singh Song! Particular highlights and benefits the students commented upon were ‘listening to the poems in the tone they’re supposed to be read in’ and the love advice given by John Agard.  Moreover, it wasn’t just the students who enjoyed the day – we teachers took a few notes ourselves!

Any student who attended the conference this year is now eligible to enter the Simon Powell Poetry Prize competition for the chance of winning an invitation to a workshop with Daljit Nagra; reading their poem at a Poetry Live! Event and a receiving a set of poetry books.  To enter, they should submit a single poem of not more than 25 lines.  The closing date is 15^th April 2019 and students who are interested in competing should see Mrs Asplin for more details.