I’ve been writing poetry for children – small children, the kind who, like my 5-year-old grandson, find the word ‘poo’ very funny if said out loud, and even funnier if the word is strongly hinted at but never quite materialises. I’ve been having a great time with all of this, also enjoying getting more immersed in the children’s poetry world, but now from a writer’s perspective, rather than that of a teacher and education person (my normal professional role).
There are masses of amazing writers and groups, blogs and events focused solely on children’s poetry. This is despite the fact that it’s long been regarded as the Cinderella of the children’s publishing world. Recently, there have been strenuous efforts by some individuals and organisations to elevate its status and support the writing, performing and publishing of it. Here are five things that have been ‘of note’ to me recently, in my new engagement in this world.
- 50 Years of Michael Rosen’s Children’s Poetry
This year is the 50th Anniversary of Michael Rosen’s first forays into writing for children. Can you imagine that? Rare is the child in England who hasn’t heard one of his poems – from ‘Don’t Eat Mustard with the Custard’ to his ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. Rarer still are those who cannot recite, with great fondness, a good portion of ‘Bear Hunt’. He has been doing lots of events and new publications this year – even more than his usual energetic output, with special events to mark his 50th anniversary. https://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/events/
2. Zig Zag Stanza
Poetry Society’s Stanzas – workshops for poetry writers – include one called ZigZag Stanza, co-ordinated by poet and editor, Rachel Piercey. It is a monthly gathering online where writers workshop their poems. Some are very well established and well-known, with several publications behind them and others are more new to this, like me. I attended my first one in March and found it a great source of constructive talk, sharing of ideas and experiences and most important of all, excellent workshopping suggestions on the poems that group members brought along. A personal revelation for me was the idea of being much more inventive and experimental with the look on the page. Having mainly read my poems out loud to my 5-year-old grandson, I hadn’t really been thinking enough about the visual impact on the page for children who are reading the poems themselves, especially if without accompanying illustrations.
https://poetrysociety.org.uk/stanzas/online/zig-zag-stanza-for-childrens-poetry
3. The CLIPPA Award
The CLIPPA Award for children’s poetry is run by CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) and has given a terrific boost to children’s poetry publishing. The 2024 prize judging panel is chaired by poet Liz Berry. It has a Shadowing Scheme, where schools can read poems from the shortlist and send in videos of themselves performing their favourite poems. The shortlist will be announced on 8th May. https://clpe.org.uk/poetry/CLiPPA
4. The Children’s Poetry Summit
This is a UK network of individuals and organisations actively interested in poetry for children that shares ideas and good practice, and acts as a campaigning pressure group. It has a fabulous blog, with a regular stream of pieces by people of note in the children’s poetry world – Pie Corbett, Gaby Morgan, Brian Moses, Rachel Piercey and others. A recent piece by Cheryl Moskowitz was a great set of reflections on the rediscovery of the child in the poet and the way ‘the poet, like the child, achieves revelation by noticing, being open to possibility, making connections in the imagination, taking one thing for another.’
https://childrenspoetrysummit.com
5. The Dirigible Balloon
Finally, a special shout out to The Dirigible Balloon website, created and curated by the amazing poet and editor, Jonathan Humble. The site is lovely to look at, populated with poems of every kind, by well-known writers (Michael Rosen, Coral Rumble, Chrissie Gittens and A.F. Harrold among others) and newbies like myself. It’s a great resource for teachers (with a vast thematic as well as an author search) but it’s also an excellent showcase for poems, going beyond the narrow confines of magazine submissions, competitions and that most challenging of avenues – book publishing. Do look out for my own poems on the site, and for the anthology which has just been announced and will be published at the end of the year. I’m thrilled that one of my poems, ‘In the Garden’, will be included! https://dirigibleballoon.org/
Barbara Bleiman
April 2024
For more examples of my children’s poetry, go to http://www.barbarableiman.com