There I was, tapping on a laptop in the hall of a secondary school preparing to deliver a rehearsed workshop, when from amongst the incoming students one flamboyantly remarked: ‘To be or not to be, that [he paused] is the question,’ and I smirked. This was going to be interesting. I should clarify that my smirk was neither that of a poetic super villain nor a caped wordsmith. It stemmed from my inner core value of breaking the stereotype of poets without compromising any of my identities. I am a poet, a South Asian Muslim poet who grew up in a small town near three cities in West Yorkshire ..read more

Who are you? I’m a wanderer through dreams, a collector of starlight, a windmill in the storm of words. My mum calls me Dominic, other people call me Dom Conlon but I’m still learning the many names which seem to fit at different times of the day. How long have you been writing poetry for children? Since 5:30am! Can you believe that? I haven’t even had breakfast yet. Though I’d also say that I don’t write poetry for children. I write poetry for myself and I hope to do that in a way which people of all ages can enjoy. How did you get started? I wrote poetry as a child which feels like the per ..read more

I have been unwell quite a bit recently, I’m okay now, however it’s been a something of a slog. Not least because my default coping mechanism is escaping into either a good book or writing poetry. Sadly, for very sound reasons, I was unable to do either. Thus so, incapacitated, I was left far too long to the machinations and oddities of daytime television. I’m not a fan. I confess even on a good day I struggle with anything scary or upsetting, so in the circumstances it wasn’t long before I had exhausted all Jane Austen and fluffy Disney… Monsters& so againsleep won't comeeven small thin ..read more

In my last blog for the Summit I wrote about Making Poetry Films which sparked quite a bit of interest so I thought I’d look at poetry film-making again here, from a slightly different angle. My poetry collection You Are Not Alone (Troika, 2023), on teen and young adult mental health and wellbeing, has been selected for The Empathy Lab’s Read for Empathy Collection 2024 and so I’ve been working on some poetry films with empathy in mind. You Are Not Alone, Troika Books Interestingly, I’ve discovered along the way that the very process of making poetry films seems to draw on several of the key ..read more

Spring is always busy at The Poetry Society, with lots of poets visiting schools for World Book Day, slam projects, and challenges and workshops on Young Poets Network. It’s also when we launch our annual competition for poets aged 11-17, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. The award is one of the world’s foremost writing competitions for young poets, with a reputation for finding and nurturing emerging voices. This year’s award is judged by the brilliant Vanessa Kisuule and Jack Underwood, and is open for entries until 31 July at foyleyoungpoets.org To inspire entrants, the winning poem ..read more

There are a few ways into teaching poetic writing that are amenable to most teachers and children. The first approach is to use a repeating phrase to add ideas rather like a verbal coat-hanger. These might be about capturing real things such as a local scene: I see the willow trees stooping in the wind.I see the red bus rumbling by…Or, creating something more surreal:I opened the door of lossand found only your shadow.I opened the door of sunsetsand found the evening’s sleepy shadow.I invented an alternative to the list poem many years ago and called it, ‘the spine poem’. Generally, the firs ..read more

Poetry is a serious business. Ask any scholar of the three grandmasters of English Literature – Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton. Hundreds of years of study show just how serious they are. But many of our poetic giants are also known for their comedy and playfulness: Chaucer has fun at the expense of his Canterbury pilgrims; Shakespeare can’t resist a joke; and Milton – well, Milton not so much. Although it could be argued that God shows his sense of humour throughout Paradise Lost. “So, guys,” (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Man will fall unless one of you angels sacrifices yourself. Whaddy ..read more

Trevor Wilson founded Caboodle Books T/A Authors Abroad in 2008. As an experienced teacher both in UK and international schools, he was well placed to understand the impact a visiting author, particularly one who had books to sign, could have on children in schools across the globe. Starting with one author, the roster was quickly expanded, and now stands at 200+ brilliant authors, poets, illustrators and storytellers, all listed on our website: authorsabroad.com. Trevor’s vision and drive has underpinned the business for over 15 years, and the team he has built ..read more

I edit poetry anthologies for both adults and children. I make no apologies for not shying away from the big beasts of poetry when I curate collections for younger readers. Children aren’t scared of poetry – they are steeped in it from their first nursery rhymes and picture books – and they don’t have all the baggage that so many adults carry when it comes to poetry’s ‘greatest hits’. They haven’t yet absorbed the message that Shakespeare means trickiness and, possibly, men in tights. They don’t have a sense of Byron-Shelley-and-Keats as a boy band of winsome gentlemen with fancy ideas about ..read more

Near the end of Wim Wenders’ poetic film Anselm, on the life and work of Anselm Kiefer, the 78-year-old artist gazes across a body of water holding his younger child self on his shoulders. In unison they speak these words translated from the German, ‘childhood is an empty space at the beginning of the world’. In his book-length self-elegy, In the Presence of Absence[1] written two years before his death at the age of 67, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish addresses his soon to be absent self, urging: Be a child again. Teach me poetry. Teach me the rhythm of the sea. Return to words their init ..read more