World Poetry Day – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

With every year group looking at a different writer, your school will discover a whole new world of poetry! The writers we have selected include …

• Raymond Antrobus – winner of the 2019 Ted Hughes Award – and whose work is influenced by his experiences of deafness …
• Malorie Blackman – who was spurred to write after realising that none of the characters in the books she had read as a child looked like her …
• Levi Tafari – born in Liverpool, a performance poet who has worked within a wide range of music traditions – with partners from dance and drum band Delado to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra …
• Andrea Levy – proving that it’s never too late to write by publishing her first book at the age of thirty eight, sharing with the world some of the experiences of the Windrush Generation.
• Benjamin Zephaniah – a hugely influential poet who, who despite his dyslexia, received sixteen honorary doctorates, and became a Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing.
• Rupinder Kaur – mixing influences from her family’s heritage in the Punjab with her experiences as a 21^st century British Asian woman to create something entirely new.

"A massive ‘Thank You’ for the Workshops last week. The pupils had a great time and it was wonderful learning about these less well known scientists and inventors. We will look forward to receiving our poems! We will be in touch regarding next year’s dates.” Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Poetry Workshops, Surbiton High Girls’ Prep School

"We were SO impressed with the workshops this year - both Year 8 and Year 9 loved them and really learnt a lot from them." Fairfield High School