Fantastic visions of the future and calls for action on the climate are among the subjects beautifully written by primary school poets thanks to an award-winning festival.
Young children were challenged to let their imaginations loose with many of their resulting poems now published in a book that is to be launched on Saturday 4th December 2021.
In a programme funded by Adur District Council and run by Shoreham Wordfest, workshops took place in local primary schools at which the children were invited to write short poems based on the 2021 Wordfest theme of 'Fast Forward' or the National Poetry Day theme of 'Choice'.
The workshops were led by performance poet Kay Walton and rapper Jon Clark, who also produced on-line examples and teaching materials for all local schools.
Schools selected the best poems from each year group and the resulting poems have been collected into a book, 'Future Choices,' which will be launched at a celebratory event for the children, their families and schools on Saturday at Ropetackle Arts Centre.
Chairman of Adur District Council, Cllr Stephen Chipp will be on hand to present a copy of the book to each of the 48 young poets featured in the volume.
Among those there will be Robyn Welch who, in her poem on the subject of the future wonders: “Will there be hover-cars to get around, Instead of my trusty old bike?”
Also in the book is a poem on tackling climate change by Harry Salmon who ends his verse with a plea: “So, for the future's sake, make a change!”
Shoreham Wordfest Schools lead, Chrissie Ient, said: “Poetry is a wonderful tool for children to express their hopes and fears, using creative language to reflect on their thoughts about the world around them. In this Wordfest poetry collection the children have let their imaginations fly. The poems serve as a snapshot of their responses, serious and funny, to some very important, and some not so important, questions.”
Leader of Adur District Council, Cllr Neil Parkin: “Shoreham Wordfest goes from strength to strength and its outreach work in schools is exemplary. We are delighted to be able to support this excellent programme which helps young children realise the powers of their imagination and the written word. “Well done to all the youngsters who took part.”
The hugely successful Wordfest which celebrates the written and spoken word has put Shoreham on the literary map and this year included guests such as Alexander McCall Smith, David Olusoga and Cerys Matthews.
The poetry collection is available for £5 from the shop on the Shoreham Wordfest website and from Shoreham Art Gallery, 27 Brunswick Road, BN43 5WA.
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