Summer poetry sessions for schools...

Teachers may be interested to know that I'm currently taking bookings for poetry workshop days for children from Nursery to age 13 (Year 8) in England and Wales.

My summer theme choices are: Sea, Jungle and Mini-Beasts. Each offers infinite potential for creative thinking and writing, and as I prepare my workshop plans for the term ahead I'm growing ever more excited about the wonderful promise these themes hold in terms of ideas, language, imagery, poetic adventure, illustration, musical accompaniment, acting out, and who knows how much more!

The theme of Sea, for instance, offers up a wealth of popular topics from ship wrecks and pirate treasure to tempests and sea serpents, not forgetting the beauty of a sunlit sea, the fun of seaside splashes and, of course, the beach - another source of wonders and fun! And then there's the power of the sea and the plethora of associated concepts: its vastness, mystery, mood-swings, glory, presence...

Further details of my workshops can be found on my other website, poemsforfun.wordpress.com, Workshops page.

"I loved that, and I hate poetry!" a ten-year-old boy told me after a workshop of mine he'd attended in a Wiltshire primary school. I love them too!

Kate

More poems up

I've put various new poems and rhymes on different pages here, and also on the pages of my other website, poemsorfun.wordpress.com, if you care to browse.

These include a newly published poem for children (and adults??) about a dragon - or at least, signs of - as well as a deliciously refreshing (at least, it is to me - that's why I wrote it) rhyme to celebrate the arrival of spring, also on my For kids page, and some frivolities on my Gardening and Humorous pages. Over on my other website, you'll find more of my poems: a mixed assortment for children, adult humorous, and adult thoughtful.

Any comments welcome!

Happy Easter break - if you're getting one,

Kate

April = spring?

Hooray, it's spring... well, April anyway. That's spring, isn't it? Used to be anyway. (I'm in the UK, by the way, so if you're the other side of the world this particular climate conundrum probably doesn't apply to you.)

Yes, the weeds are all up in my garden, the grass is starting to spring up again in all the wrong places, and the April showers are here... never left last year actually, so I'm hoping some new poem ideas will soon start springing up too, in my pen and eventually on these pages. Will let you know when.

Meanwhile, in case you're a teacher and may be interested, I might as well mention that I'm now preparing my summer term poetry workshop themes. These will include sparkling seasides, wild tempests, sea-bed secrets, and the odd - very odd, probably - sea monster. Jungles are also on my summer agenda, with petrifying prowls, growls and howls amid the twisty tangles below, and mad monkey mayhem in the towering treetops above - or whatever else my classes may wish to conjure up. The fascinating world of insects is also buzzing round my head, inside it, that is - hopefully not outside, though I have encountered the odd spider daring its way into our house recently, and no doubt some kids will be itching to freak me out with more of the things. True, spiders aren't actually insects, but my theme will cover 'mini-beasts' of all nasty, knobbly kinds, and beautiful ones too. Yes, delicate, transparent wings will be flitting before our eyes, and, hopefully, across some of our pages too, through silky blue skies and lush green foliage as we lead the way from one poetry style to another. So despite the ongoing murkiness of the weather, I'm already gearing up for summer, and if it doesn't show up, we'll magic it through our poetry, or rather, the children will. They never let me down!

Will keep you posted of latest poems and other updates meanwhile.

Happy Easter!

Kate