'The Battle of Atwa' by Lemn Sissay

Hear this poem performed by ‪#‎LemnSissay‬ on the anniversary of the crucial Battle of ‪#‎Atwa‬  Have you booked tickets for him yet on Friday 20 March?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9pN3DCrbU

Their imaginations are Something Else

Sheila Chapman writes:

Poet James Nash with teachers Adrienne Amos and Gemma Midwood

The Year 6 children at Ireland Wood Primary School wrote poems full of passion and imagination about their families, feelings, laughter and love.

They wrote with real skill and read their poems clearly and confidently. As one parent said they found the experience uplifting and emotional and another thought the poetry was emotionally deep and creative.

Here are a few snippets -

Memories meander back to me

From poems about mothers

...like beautiful sunshine

...like a diamond in my heart

...feels like a teddy bear you wish you could keep forever

... like a soft cuddly cushion

From poems about the world and life

... life is my pulse ticking like a clock

.. the earth smells like fresh vanilla ice cream

... the smell of factories and maybe the taste of smoke

From poems about families

... my family is an art gallery

... like birds chirping love

... blasting out with laughter in front of the tele

... like a jigsaw puzzle

... endless trust

... my pumping heart, a robin singing the whole time

From poems about love, feelings and laughter

... like warm powerful music

... like an orchestra playing different tunes

... like the sounds of the xylophone

... like the bursting sweet sensation of fruit

Gemma Midwood the English Leader in the school said

Great to hear and see the children share their writing with confidence and pride. They have obviously been inspired by James, consequently writing emotively and with enthusiasm.

Adrienne Amos the form teacher said

Again, an amazing experience for our children. I have seen their poems develop from good poems to fantastic poems. Such a treat!

Thanks, Christina at Leeds List!

Thanks for your preview, Christina at Leeds List! You're welcome to eat with us on 9 March - Dinner with the Decameron. There's a meal with a Florentine touch, and a couple of saucy Boccaccio stories! 

Don't forget to book in advance for this - 0113 275 5017

http://bit.ly/1FOaJE3 - CLICK to find out.

'We're Not Going Back' - Red Ladder

The brochure is now ready! Email here if you want some to distribute for us.

One or two of you might just have a pdf version sent in the last few days which needs a slight amendment. We've now put that right. Red Ladder's show on Saturday 7 March is actually NOT free - it is six pounds to get in. Here is the programme entry:

We're Not Going Back

A musical evening with Red Ladder Theatre Company

This touring play by Red Ladder commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984/5 miners’ strike from the vantage point of a well-worn settee in a South Yorkshire pit village home. The play’s cast, writer and musicians gather to perform extracts, sing songs and discuss the impact of the strike, the play and its audiences up and down the country.

8pm New Headingley Club, St Michael’s Road £6

Listen to Lemn's poem

Here's a taster for Friday 20 March -

fb.me/71VCdYL2D 

What a line-up!

Jo Shapcott, Red Ladder, Dommy B, Jasper Fforde, Nicolette Jones, the cream of Yorkshire crime writers, Peter Spafford, Richard Ormrod, Juliet Barker, Trio Literati... but why name-drop when you can easily get a good idea of everything that is going to take place by clicking here. Currently, there are still a few small updates, but most things are in place. You can start pencilling messages for yourself into your diary.

We're working on the brochure at the moment: it will be as beautifully comprehensive as ever.