Friday 10th January saw the start of the BLC Poetry Slam where all the teams met at Evelyn Grace Academy to hear and see poetry in action! 4 talented young people from years 8 and 9 from Evelyn Grace dazzled us with their wordsmithing and told us how they got into poetry: an inspiration to everyone there. The new younger teams then joined in with poetry leader and compere Adisa’s poems. Workshops start in school on 21st January, kicking off in St Saviours and St John’s Angell Town with Neal Zetter. A great start.

We begin the New Year on a poetic note, as BLC year 5 teachers gather on Thursday 9th after school to work with poet Jared Louche on poetry writing inspired by T Eliot’s Old Possums Book of Practical Cats. It promises to be a lively, hands-on, voices-on session to get the creative juices flowing.

Eliot Now

Funded by Clore Poetry and Literature Awards

An exciting and challenging project where children in years 5 and 8 in the BLC read, reflect and respond to the poetry of TS Eliot. This project brings the students work beyond the classroom through partnership with Photofusion gallery in Brixton and Brixton libraries. Postcards and posters will celebrate the work on the streets of Brixton.

BLC Poetry Slam

Funded by The Walcot Foundation.

The powerful medium of performance poetry brings students from the BLC schools together  to compete in the first BLC Poetry Slam at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton. Teams from 10 schools are coached by professional, highly regarded performance wordsmiths Adisa, Kat Francois, Neal Zetter, Indigo and Joshua Seigal in preparation for the competition.