A was an apple pie B bit it. C cut it. D dealt it. … and so on The rhyme goes back at least to the eighteenth century and has always intrigued me -all those verbs, all those things to be done with an apple pie. Sandy Brownjohn suggests the alphabet as a manageable frame … Continue reading A was an Apple Pie
Here are some words to go in the house book that you made at the weekend. Filled it? Make another one. Think of your house, your home, where you have been for the last year; where parts of it have gained significance that you would never have dreamed of. Walk yourself around your home, literally … Continue reading Home sweet home
Here is a video which we must share with you. A perfect poetic collaboration between the wonderful Neil Gaiman (writer and Goodwill Ambassador) and the UN Refugee Agency UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAHEQ-KiDI4&feature=emb_logo So what do yo need to be warm? Write your own list. What do you physically need? What do you mentally need to feel warmth? … Continue reading What you need to be warm
It is nearly November 5th. In England at least, there are usually bonfires and fireworks around that time. Let’s really think about the sound of it all. It is dark when we set off fireworks, so maybe we notice the sounds more. Here is the beginning of a list poem by Mary O’Neill: The sound … Continue reading Sound of fire
This is an idea borrowed from the poet, Naomi Shihab Nye. I used it in a workshop recently and we had a good time. We all wrote something quite different and intriguing and fun. Write a list of things that you are not – an oak tree, a bus driver, an elephant, a Roman soldier, a … Continue reading Things I am not
When Mole first meets Ratty, in The Wind in the Willows, Ratty takes him out on the river. He stows a picnic hamper in the boat and Mole, curious, asks what’s inside it. Ratty replies, There’s cold chicken inside it … coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfranchrollscressandwichespottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater – Oh, stop, stop, Mole cries. It is too much. Ratty is worried. ‘Do … Continue reading It’sapicnic!
Many of you have been writing about your day to day life for the last few months. You may have poems, lists, observations. Now is the time to put those to use. Kettle’s Yard Gallery has ut out a call for Lockdown Letters. They would like you to write a one page letter telling them … Continue reading Lockdown Letters
Eve Merriam is a favourite poet of ours. This very short poem of hers is another list. It’s a list of places to hide a secret message. Where would you hide a secret message? Write your own list. Hey presto, you have a poem! In a raindrop on a windowpanein a moon shellin a raisin … Continue reading Places to hide a secret message
… is a poem by Craig Raine. It’s a list poem. You could write one like it. I imagine you will have plenty of your own ideas. It begins kike this: Here is your balloon. Heart-shaped, hard with helium, filled from an iron cigar. It has more creases than your baby sister’s arm. Be careful. … Continue reading 51 ways to lose a balloon …
Today we challenge you to create one, two, three, or even more characters. We have photographs of the things we found when three characters turned out their pockets and bags. Who can they be? Look closely at the photographs and see what clues you can find. Who would carry such things with them and what … Continue reading Whose pockets?
Writing Box 