Author: Sebatian ‘Baz’
Casting my mind back to a drizzly February, I remember when I became the first-ever Writer in Residence at Upton Country Park during the half term as the Young Poet Laureate for Bournemouth! I spent my time at the house hosting workshops for kids and teens, alongside The Story Works crew.
It was a great experience! The Story Works introduced sparky kids to storytelling through a free-flowing format and even came up with a new minigame: Equip the Hero! By giving our character every amenity, facility, and ability — from laser eyes and magnetic helmets to diving fins, nuclear mind powers, and swords — what began as a humble stick figure quickly became the most awesome and powerful hero of all time.
For older kids, we looked inwards to discover more things about ourselves and where we come from. With the power of poetry, we delved deep to explore ourselves and our surroundings in new ways, writing about places and people that were important to us. The week was capped off with a nature writing workshop for adults, and an open-mic night attended by many budding poets and writers from the local area.
I’ve really enjoyed my term as Young Poet Laureate for Bournemouth, and it’s been a real eye-opener into where creative writing sits in education. As our first dedicated scheme for teenagers, we delivered sessions to over 150 additional young people through the programme this year! By visiting secondary schools, after-school clubs, and external youth groups, we know just how creative and full of ideas this age group can be: they’ve got a lot of feelings and need a way to express them creatively and safely. But there’s still plenty of work to be done; we’d love to reprise the scheme in future when the time is right.
If you have a 13-25 classroom in need of some poetry, please contact us at poetry.thestoryworkssouth@gmail.com
