Amused… Amazed… Aghast… they gazed!
Above is a picture of the audience during my spoken word performance at Hyde Youth Club, Manchester. The expressions are a common reaction and reveal how well young people respond to live poetry – its energy, playful irreverence and sense of danger.
Through this website you can view my workshop profile; book a school visit; watch videos; order my illustrated collection Wordworms! (Route 2014); and via a link to First Story, purchase copies of school anthologies from my various residencies.
With a track record of inspiring those considered hard-to-reach, I enjoy working with young people from all backgrounds and I’m available for school visits throughout the UK.
Currently I am First Story Writer-in-Residence at Florence MacWilliams, Stoke-on-Trent and previous residencies include: Nottingham Academy; The Farnborough Academy; Paget High School; Co-op Academy, Stoke-on-Trent; Sutton Community Academy; and five years with Service Childrens Education in Germany, the Netherlands, and Cyprus.
If you’re interested in booking a school visit then please Contact Me.
We wrote kennings for air and water: ‘super-hoover’ for a tornado and ‘stinging-beast’ for a bee; and then… we made those kennings fly! Filmed by Graham Forde with help from the students of Belper School as part of Summer School 2013. With thanks to Joanne Hawkyard.
A brief outline of my poetry and performance workshops for primary and secondary schools:
- An inspiring and entertaining 20 to 40 minute show
- Interactive games of metaphor and imagination
- How to access your creative self
- The art of writing a poem
- The art of performing a poem
- A performance by the students sharing the work they’ve created
Starting the day with poetry! Drawing on the words and stories of six collections my show is fast, funny and thought provoking. And when young people see and hear poetry that they can connect with, they recognise its vitality and soon want to have a go themselves. Whether starting a school day or opening a workshop, a 20 minute performance allows everyone a chance to experience a live poetry and spoken word show. A show tailored to suit the age of the group – from Key Stage 2 to the 6th Form.
‘Mark’s performances and workshops are animated… an enthusiastic outburst of creativity and co-operation’ (John Gill, St. Benedict’s School, Derby).
I run a variety of workshops, often as part of extended projects, but I also make day visits to schools.
My school visits often begin with a performance to a year group or even the whole school. Depending on what’s required the show will last between 20 and 40 mins, and will include stories and poems to amuse, amaze and inspire young people to find their own creative selves. Following which I can offer 3x one hour workshops. So, alongwith the show – a maximum of four sessions.
The workshops are a lively and interactive exploration of poetry and performance and aim to get young people writing with a love for creative language. It’s all about having fun with words and ideas. Workshops are given to class-sized groups and last for one hour. It is helpful if the class’ teacher is present as follow-up work is required. Typically workshops explore:
- the sounds of words
- how and why we think in pictures
- how to create pictures with words
- how to use rhyme and not be a slave to it
- how to express emotions and ideas convincingly
- how to listen and how to be heard
- fun games to unlock the imagination
Other workshops include: ‘Poetry and Performance’; ‘Poetry and Place’ (exploring landscapes & environments through poetry); ‘The Secret Life of Objects’ and, ‘How to make your poems fly!’.
My new collection for young readers, Wordworms! is all about how words are alive and how the words we think and speak shape the way we feel and behave. The workshops too, are designed to inspire a love for creative language and a recognition of how powerful our words can be.
If your interested in getting me to your school please contact me via the Bookings page.
