Renowned poet to host classes for children in Tewkesbury (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Renowned poet to host classes for children in Tewkesbury

10:19am Monday 3rd August 2009 in News

Children in the Tewkesbury area are to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a creative writing workshop with one of the finest living English poets.

Alice Oswald, who has been named by The Times as one of the 50 most important writers since 1945, will be giving a free poetry workshop in Tewkesbury Library for children aged eight to 11-years-old this Wednesday, August 5 from 10.30am to 12 noon.

Her visit forms part of the library’s Summer Reading Challenge, which encourages children to read more books during the long summer break from school, and her theme for the morning will be ‘River Quests’.

It follows the successful Gloucestershire tour of a dramatised production of Alice’s poem about the River Severn - Sleepwalk on The Severn - as part of this year’s Severn Project Art Festival.

The poem is a powerful evocation of the spirit of the moon in its different phases as it rises above the river and the effect it has on the people living there, both living and dead.

These are based on real characters whom Alice researched through Gloucestershire archives’ rich holdings about the river and its heritage.

The poem was commissioned by the Severn Project arts partnership as part of its festival series of events throughout Gloucestershire over the summer months.

Sever Project is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council of England and led by Gloucestershire County Council Arts team.

It includes extensive community and education work, including Alice’s workshops in libraries.

Helen Owen, arts development officer for Gloucestershire County Council, said: “This really is a fantastic opportunity for children living in the area to be guided and inspired by a poet of Alice’s calibre.

“She is emerging as one of the greatest poets of her generation, has already won a number of awards, including the prestigious TS Eliot Prize for Poetry, and has been tipped as a future Poet Laureate.

“She has a natural ear for human voices and I think this is something that children can pick up on very quickly.

“This is one of three workshops she will be giving throughout the county. The others are at Lydney Library on August 6 and Gloucester Library on August 7.”

For more information call Tewkesbury Library 01684 290 125.