GCSE Poetry Live!

On Friday 7th March, the year 10 students went on a school trip to GCSE Poetry Live which was held in the Dominion Theatre. We had the chance to listen to the poets whose poems we will be studying in our GCSE anthology. We also heard from an experienced examiner, who gave us important advice on how to do the best that we possibly can in our GCSE exams.

Carol Ann Duffy was one of the poets who spoke in front of us. Her poems were about relationships, which is the topic we are going to be studying in our anthology. In her poem 'Quickdraw,' two of the stanzas are set out like guns. She taught us that the layout of poems is also important to look at.

Another speaker was Imtiaz Dharker; her poems were about conflict. Her poems were intriguing because they brought a sense of her culture into them.

It was different hearing the poems read aloud because we could feel the meaning of the poem coming through the voice of the poet.

'My favourite poet was Simon Armitage. He engaged me with his poem about Punk.  It was visceral and real.' - Sophia

'I really enjoyed listening to John Agaard.  As a black poet, I could relate to him.  His poem 'Flag' explored culture.  He involved the audience and performed his poems with great energy.' - Marylyne

'Gillian Clarke's poetry dealt with the mundane and everyday. What was interesting was the variety of poetry performed during the day.' - Clara