Poet James Nash at Weetwood Primary School

 

Poems about the experience of slavery

James Nash writes:

Year 5 at Weetwood Primary School have been learning about African life and culture, a display of the masks they have made lights up the classroom and they have already written quirky stories inspired by Alexander McCall Smith’s ‘Folktales from Africa: The Baboon Who Went this Way and That’. They have just been introduced by their teacher Joanne Parker to some of the troubling history of African slavery and are more than ready to talk about it to me.

 

After a few introductions, about my work as a writer, I show them a broken clay head of an African child [pictured] and we use it to sketch out some ideas about how it makes us feel in response to some very general questions from me.  I encourage them to write in the first person as if they are they are the child experiencing the kidnapping and violence at the hands of the slavers.  We talk about ‘empathy’ and what it means, and how using their five senses can bring writing to life for a listener or reader.  After every question I invite the young people to share their answers with the rest of the class. It is extraordinary how in a very short time they become absorbed in their task and how imaginative and empathetic the writing they produce is.

The very next day I am in the classroom with them again.  Our task today is to look at our notes and start thinking about how they might be transformed into something that looks and sounds more like a poem.  I have brought in my second draft of a new poem written about the clay head.  I talk about the importance of editing and redrafting, that they are in charge of their words and get them to think which are their favourite phrases and sentences from the previous day, and which order they might use them.  We look at my second draft and talk about what my decisions were in setting my poem out. Then I set them off to writing a second draft themselves, punctuated by me sharing examples of their work.  Concentration and application are very high.  This second session ends with many of the children coming to the front of the class and reading what they have written.

On the third session we are unable to read our work out to a larger audience of parents and fellow pupils, but we are very excited to share both our folktales and the new poems on slavery with each other.  Year 5 have shown incredible maturity in dealing with such an adult topic, and read their stories and poems with great confidence.  Lines which stand out [amongst many] are,

‘The scars on the surface of my face show how broken I am’

AND

‘My dream is to get out of this madness’

AND

‘heavy shackles weigh me down’

AND

‘my friends are fading from me’.

When I take feedback from Year 5, many say that they have learned the importance of drafting and redrafting, [ someone wrote a heartfelt, ’learning to be patient with my writing by doing lots of drafts’], they liked my open questions about what was happening to their character.  They liked the experience of sharing their work with others in the class and many felt they had grown in confidence.  One young person felt that the best thing about the project was ‘my development in the poetry industry’. Me too!

Joanne Parker said that working with me had inspired the children, ‘it upped their game, elevated their ideas and motivated them’.

As a lovely postscript the class presented me with a copy of McCall Smith’s book of African folktales.

 

James Nash with Joanne Parker

15 June 2021

Funded by your councillors of the Inner North West Community Committee: 

Headingley & Hyde Park, Little London & Woodhouse, Weetwood 

Poet Malika Booker at Brudenell School, Leeds

 Richard Wilcocks writes:

Under the banner of Headingley LitFest, I have now been taking Malika Booker to Brudenell Primary School annually since 2016, with 2020 missed out because of a certain pandemic. In previous years, her sessions were spread over three weeks, with a performance to the whole school in the third, but this year there were a few complications, and her three sessions had to be in the same week. In addition, the class teacher who had been such a great help in 2019, Tom Nutman, was on compassionate leave due to a bereavement. Even so, everything has been a roaring success. Help and encouragement came with Emma Hargreaves, a trainee teacher just about to qualify who is destined to go far. The class is Year 5, which means it is made up of nine and ten-year-olds.

Malika Booker and Emma Hargreaves                   Photo by Richard Wilcocks

Day One

Malika began by reading a couple of her own poems, one about a little boy lost in a maze (she was once poet in residence at Hampton Court) and one about a cat that had to be dismissed from a household. ‘How long does it take to write a poem?’ asked a boy afterwards.

‘I always draft and redraft a poem until I think it’s finished,’ Malika told him. ‘That could take a week. One of my poems took eleven years. We’ll soon be doing lots of redrafting.’

‘A poem is made up of truth, with a little bit of lie and some exaggeration, like in a story.’ She mentioned the story she is currently writing for under-fives, ‘Mangolina’, about a girl who finds her lost carnival wings.

 Then she introduced a method she has used before – ‘writing is like cooking’ – and the children were soon making their personal collections of ingredients, all around the chosen theme of Rivers. ‘Wind in the Willows’ has been on their curriculum since May. After explaining what onomatopoeia is, sounds made by running and rushing water were chosen, and after explaining the meaning of ‘personification’, various creatures were chosen to represent an ever-changing watercourse, with plenty of snakes to begin with.

More inspiration came in the form of ‘The River’, a poem by Caribbean poet Valerie Bloom, which begins:

The River’s a wanderer,

A nomad, a tramp,

He never chooses one place

To set up his camp.

This was read aloud, then, after asking a few questions, Malika finished with, 'We’ll write list poems. I’ll come to that tomorrow.’

Day Two

‘Let’s have some good similes. What does your water do?’ Almost all hands shot up, imaginations fermenting quickly, responses including ‘my water bellows like a red deer’ and ‘the water is like a train, fast and furious’.

‘What about doing words, verbs? What does water do?’ It dances, leaps, trickles, attacks, manoeuvres amongst the suggestions. ‘And if we’re thinking about personification (remember yesterday?) what else can it do?’ It might whisper, or talk, or sing, or spit, or scream, or all of those.

‘Let’s have more nouns, names of things connected with your river.’ An alligator, a magical creature, a ghost, a falcon, a cheetah, a sloth, pebbles, seaweed and an assassin were some of the items to select from the ingredients list.

Moods? Anger was popular. ‘So what does anger feel like? Is it feathers brushing against your forehead? Or is it red hot coals burning in your eyes?’

Writing the drafts of the poem began. It had to be a list, with each item a couple of lines long, beginning with ‘The river is…’

Day Three

Most of the session was spent writing, with Malika circulating amongst the tables, sometimes issuing reminders of what had been done during the previous two days. Towards the end, she spent time creating a background soundscape to go with a future performance, with each table allocated a watery sound (shhhh, fizzzz, plop for example) to practise. This would be a background against which each poem would be read.

Sadly, the performance in an assembly can only take place in a couple of weeks’ time, but Emma Hargreaves will pick up from this point and act as the producer. Some selected lines from the finished poems will be added soon, probably within the next fortnight.

Selected lines:

My river screams

like it is being

tortured.

 

My river growls

like it hasn’t eaten

in years.

(Mussa G.)

 

My river is a king cobra

that slithers through land -

if you get too close

it might bite.

 

My river is a fearless boy -

nothing can hurt him - he crashes

into trees - shakes and falls -

try hurt him and you will be

finished.

(Bilal A.)

 

My river slithers like a snake

     sneaky and stealthy

but then comes to a burst

     like a bear

with an enormous thirst

 

If you are as quiet as an ant

you can feel the red eyes of the

captain’s bird staring at you from the

bottom of the river.

(Zayyuan V.)

 

The water bellows like a red deer

And echoes for the world to hear.

(Haseena A.)

 

My river is a haunted little girl

Who is lonely in the playground.

(Amna A.)

 

My river is a classical singer and dancer.

She is a teenager.

When she sings the waterfall falls down.

(Rassan E.)

 

Funded by your councillors of the Inner North West Community Committee: 

Headingley & Hyde Park, Little London & Woodhouse, Weetwood 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Orwell in Headingley

 George Orwell in Headingley

In 1936 George Orwell (Eric Blair) stayed briefly in a house on Estcourt Avenue, Headingley, visiting his sister Marjorie, who was married to Humphrey Dakin. He had spent much of the year traveling around the north of England, researching and documenting the widespread working class poverty of the time.  In Leeds, he made final adjustments to his notes, and 'The Road to Wigan Pier' was published the following year. 

In the first week of March, 2022, we intend to hold an event with a theme based on the book which will begin with a walk from Estcourt Avenue to the Heart Centre. Local actor and jazz trumpeter Jem Dobbs  (Bassa Bassa, Des the Miner) will begin the walk by talking about his memories of the house, where he was born and grew up. The speakers at Heart have not been finalised, but the focus will be on the book and on the modern resonances which it creates. Hopefully, there will be other Orwell-related events as well.

Why not read the book now so that you are well prepared?

Heartlines on screen

Headingley's enthusiastic creative writers (now known as Heartlines) are very welcome LitFest guests every year. This year they have distinguished themselves by producing this terrific lockdown video. It now lasts for more than 28 minutes!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Poetry Magic at Ireland Wood Primary School

James Nash writes:

On Monday morning, 1^st February, I attended two assemblies with Ireland Wood Primary School, but assemblies with a difference.  These were on-line and the bulk of the pupils were in their kitchens or sitting-rooms with just a few in their home classrooms.  It was wonderful, inspiring and emotional.

Together the hundred or so young people and I had been on an adventure, thinking about and writing poetry about the Holocaust, in recognition of  Holocaust Memorial Day last week.

Usually I would work with two Year 6 classes in the school hall but with the sterling help of Year 5 teachers Angie Georgeson and Amy Pliener, and Year 6 teachers Adtienne Amos and Nina Gayton, their classroom assistants and parents somewhere in the background, we were able to involve more children than ever before. 

Lead teacher Mrs. Amos [whom I’ve worked with for eight years now] and I had a long preliminary planning meeting on the phone and daily catch ups to make sure we were on track.

I made a series of short video clips beginning with an introduction to me as a writer, and then another where I talked about my indirect experience of the Holocaust, my father’s soldiering in the Second World War, a close friend’s loss of her grandparent’s families to the concentration camps and my visits to Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam and memorials to lost Jewish families in Berlin.  

There were daily clips on how to write a poem, from first inspirations to second and third drafts, how to edit and get the best out of your writing; these were very enjoyable to produce, making me think very carefully about the writing process.

And then there were the emails via teaching staff of poems in progress which stunned me with their quality, and made me look at my own drafts and redrafts much more critically.

So this assembly was the culmination of a week’s intensive activity, and managed to be both a sharing and a celebration of their work, proving that even in these difficult times young people will rise to a challenge particularly if it’s a creative one.  They were, and are, a credit to their school

A good link to the young people’s work Ireland Wood Primary School - Immerse, Inspire, Include

James Nash, 7^th February 2021

Feedback:

Below are some of the comments, made by participating staff, parents, pupils and school governor, 

Adrienne Amos in an email to me about one pupil [part of her poem included,

’She has worked her socks off on this - learning from James and also incorporating some things she has learned from reading the Morris Gleitzmann book 'Once'. I am blown away’

The Pit 

In my hut 

My eyes see the frozen windows, 

Solomon is dead, 

AUS DE HITTE! 

HIERLANG JETZ SCHNELL! 

The woods envelope us 

Cold air hurts my teeth, 

Machine guns chatter 

Angie Georgeson, Year 5 teacher,

‘We had more work back from the children last week than in any other week of online learning and from a wider range of children too’.

And again at the end of the project

‘James' poetry sessions were the perfect way to engage my Year 5 class with the heavy topic of The Holocaust. James' touch encouraged the children to act appropriately and to really dig deep to empathise with the Jewish children living in fear during WW2. James' daily input and reflection on his own poem made such a difference and had a massive impact on the children. The children produced some brilliant work. Thank you to James Nash and Headingley LitFest for exploring creative writing and poetry with the kids’.

 

A teacher in school during Lockdown, Darren B

I feel the kids really engaged with the theme. Once they had passed the whole 'I can't do it' attitude they realised they could do it. This has boosted their confidence in themselves with their writing. I feel the whole week has been their best work during this Lockdown. 

Year 6 Teacher Nina Gayton

My class enjoyed working with such a talented poet in such a thorough way. They have learnt how to move from their initial ideas to an accomplished final piece. My class were most proud of their end product, and really enjoyed working alongside James, following his guidance, of how to get to their final piece. They also commented on how the stimulus and discussions enabled them to work on such a poignant topic. They felt very proud and by the end. 

Angie Georgeson Year 5v teacher 

James inspired the children.  He talks to them as equals – revelling in their ideas and contributions. I loved the way that he read the children’s work out; a great confidence boost to the children.

They enjoyed having a ‘real poet’ teaching them and he broke the work down into manageable chunks so that it was very easy to see how you can build up from initial ideas to a final draft.  One thing I particularly liked was the fact that the poem went through various iterations before the final version (and even then he said there may be more versions).  We find it hard to get the children to edit their work and so it was good to be able to show that when a writer does this in real life, that the first draft is never the last.

Adriennne Amos, Year 6 teacher

‘As always, it has been a fantastic experience for the children to experience working alongside James. This year, we didn't think it was going to be possible, due to the Lockdown. But thanks to James' willingness to embrace technology and remote learning, we have spent the past week building and crafting some superb pieces of work. 

The children's work has been the usual high standard we expect from James' workshop sessions and they have really responded with sensitivity to a very tricky theme this year: the Holocaust’

Three parental responses: ‘The poetry work done with James Nash was really well received by my daughter. She has taken a real interest in a difficult subject and enjoyed her learning experience, especially when having a 'real poet' to work with. Following sessions she wanted to continue to learn about poetry so we have done some writing together and we have been able to discuss other difficult subjects in a similar way as a result’

And

‘First of all I’d like to say how proud myself and my family were with Aaliyah’s poem, it was so descriptive and very emotional. Aaliyah really enjoyed the session and learning all about the holocaust, even though it’s a difficult topic I think its very important to learn about the history of it, especially as my great grandma was Jewish.

 

I remember when Schindlers List came out and my mum took me to watch it at the cinema and that film has stuck with me! I think this session with stick with Aaliyah although it was a extremely sad time she was very interested in researching it.’

AND

‘The poetry work done with James Nash was really well received by my daughter. She has taken a real interest in a difficult subject and enjoyed her learning experience, especially when having a 'real poet' to work with. Following sessions she wanted to continue to learn about poetry so we have done some writing together and we have been able to discuss other difficult subjects in a similar way as a result’

Some pupil comments from the many:

Maryam  (year 5) said, ‘I enjoyed James poetry session because he taught me how to use my vocabulary and he used drafts to progress his work’.

George said,’I found it surprisingly good’. [This made me smile]

Governor, Di Woods Robinson,  said of one poem, 

‘That is very moving. That a pupil can relate in this way says so much about the week and the teaching of James and all the staff involved. Have shed quite a few tears this week’

Ruby's poem:

Safe Again…?   L J

I’m stuck in a dark, gloomy basement

I would rather be with my sister,

If she was with me not upon a grave,

If only I could have made her safe.

Footsteps above me I start to worry

All go silent

I hope they don’t find us

I hope was escape

I hope we will be safe once again

The door broke down,

They stomped down the stairs viciously

No-one moved

Until they dragged my parents upstairs

Bang

That’s when I knew they were gone

All were silent

Now the gun points at me