It’s 5.22 in the morning, and I’ve been up since 3am. I passed out just before midnight, but haven’t been able to get back to sleep since I woke, and rather than twiddle my thumbs, I figure now’s a good time to reflect on my experiences so far (seeing as I’ve finished reading
No Dominion (which turned out to be pretty entertaining) and I’ve finished watching the
Dresden Files (which didn’t).
So, Thursday morning. 2 days left, and the major part of this week is over. I’ve so far been in contact with hundreds of students from Raffles - which is like a town or village in its own right. Monday morning was an early start, with an assembly for the entire school at 7.20am, followed by a 45 minute presentation at the Junior College, and the first of my 3 hour mentoring sessions.
The major focus of my programme here has been about working with a select batch of 12 students - helping to further develop their writing. I’m really enjoying working with them - so often, as a poet that works in education, I’m booked by schools to work with students that have no real interest in literature, based on understanding that literature and other creative pursuits can be used to engage those students. That’s great, and there have definitely been some memorable successes and converts - the work that we (the poets that go into schools and other institutions to bring poetry to "the people") do on that level is valuable, and in some cases, life-changing. I do appreciate, however, the opportunities I have to work with students that are genuinely interested in writing and exploring poetry from the very beginning - the workshops where I don’t have to first posit poetry as a valid form of expression, and act as an evangelical minister in the church of poetry, or, perhaps more appropriately, a hyper-active marketing executive repackaging a product that’s often seen as elitist, dull, boring and/or irrelevant. One of the reasons I love my Roundhouse Poets so much is that they work with me because they want to push themselves as poets, and that’s exactly the same feeling I get from my Raffles crew.
Tuesday morning, turned up the heat (and yes, it’s hot out here - in the 30s). Later start, a midday assembly programme with 400+ students in a round, for an hour. Followed by a 2 hour workshop with a batch of lit students - I was told to expect around 80, but I think it was more like 60. Ish. I lost count as the heads came in through the door. Maybe it was more. I ran two exercises - first, a simply warm-up, taking a range of favourite things and using them to describe a favourite person; second, a poem through the lens of a specific moment in time.
A couple of responses:
http://forgotten-memoirs.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html7930420882919591516http://bp1.blogger.com/_DheJW5kf0XY/R_uR19dtJGI/AAAAAAAAAC4/TXybACqXY9I/s1600-h/poetry+try1.jpgTuesday evening, on with the mentorship. Every evening, 5pm to 8pm, short break for dinner at 6.30. Went back to the hotel and stayed up to some ridiculous hour, reading. Wednesday morning, earlier start. 8am arrival at school, and managed to wander around taking a few pictures of the large banners they’ve put up around school with my picture and extracts of my poems, before an hour long session with 3 or 4 classes (again, lost count as the boys streamed in) talking about themes in my collection, "
Communion", how the pieces came together, my experience growing up in London, being of Guyanese heritage etc. An hour’s break, then another class visit with Jennifer Koh’s lit class, talking for some of it, and getting some writing out of them for the rest.
Pause. Jennifer Koh. Last time I was out here, I visited Books Actually (on my list of world-wide favourite bookstores, along with Myopic in Chicago and a rambling bookstore in New York, the name of which I’ve forgotten...) and picked up "
Light is Like Water", completely at random. Loved it - it marries two of my passions, photography and poetry. It turns out that Jennifer Koh is the photographer for the book, and just happens to be teaching at Raffles. You have to love the world for those kinds of coincidences.
Jennifer’s class was followed directly by another class. Some of the teachers were trying to sneak me out for an early lunch, but a couple of boys nabbed me, saying that their teacher wasn’t in school and that they had no one in class with them. It needs to be pointed out that there doesn’t seem to be an issue with that over here - setting students some work and expecting them to get on with it. I guess there are some classes that can be trusted more than others. I decided to work with them, and had a really enjoyable hour teaching poetry. Just me an the guys. One of the reasons I liked it so much was because, in all of my other classes, I think I’ve been raised up on a pedestal as "the writer in residence". With this class - yes, they knew who I was - but we didn’t need to do any formal introductions, we didn’t need to establish the fact that I have all of the experience that I have, we didn’t need to discuss themes or draw the links between the things I had them doing and their other academic experiences. We just rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty with words and ideas, and had a good time doing so.
Over lunch (at a Thai Restaurant, with excellent banana fritters) had a really interesting conversation with a few teachers about them being able to share their writing in class - whether they would actually go through the same writing experience as the students, and put themselves on that level. It’s not always appropriate, but I’ve found that students gain something from seeing their teachers go through the same writing challenge - it usually breaks down a barrier, and raises the level of appreciation. By the same token, I’m reminded of Kwame Dawes, and the way that he also responds to the workshop exercises he sets and shares his writing with the group. I find it hard to do that, maybe because I’m currently teaching more teens than adults, and the teens need more over-the-shoulder support.
Wednesday evening, 5-8pm, mentorship again, feeding back on the poems I had them writing yesterday, and setting a new writing challenge. By the end of the session, they asked for more time. They’re sitting down with me for 3 hours after a long school day, and they want MORE TIME. Can we work with you until 9pm, they say? Who am I to turn them down?
All in all, thus far a successful week. Tomorrow (today?), a lazy start - don’t have to be in school until 14.30, when I’m running a two hour workshop for teachers, followed by a long-haul mentoring session. The teachers are asking questions about engaging the students that aren’t interested in creative writing, and how to push the students once you’ve got them, how to further develop the work. Looking forward to it.
Beyond the schedule? I haven’t been quite as active with the rest of my time as I would have liked. Emails are stacking up, as much as I try to work through them (though I’ve managed to rattle off some feedback for some of my other students back in London), and I haven’t written anything. I have, however, found a Facebook group for my primary school, and managed to reconnect with some people I haven’t seen since I left single digits. Amazing.