Pupils enjoy creative workshop from poet Luke Kennard

On Monday pupils gathered in the Moser library had the privilege of hearing acclaimed poet, Luke Kennard, recite a selection of his own poetry alongside insightful comments on the origins, deliberation, and process behind their conceptions.  

It was wonderful to be able to hear the poet’s very own recitation of his work which enabled an exclusive insight into the performative and rhythmic intention of the words. The poems stretched from sardonic passages mocking life’s mundanities to romantic poems exploring the timeless intricacies of love.  

The middle section of Luke Kennard’s book, “Cain”, provided a particularly memorable example of his experimentation with language as he rearranged the letters of Genesis 4:9-12 into thirty-one distinct and reenergised poems. This uniquely playful manipulation of verse not only highlighted Luke’s inventive and humorous persona as a writer but also gave brilliant inspiration to the pupils who then embarked on a series of writing tasks, led by Luke himself, designed to spark imagination.  

One of the activities involved completing the end of a series of sentence openers to create the skeleton of a poem. The exercise provoked a buzz of conversation throughout the room and inspired vibrantly original responses from all listeners. It was, overall, a thought-provoking and masterfully led evening.   

Charlotte K (M, V)