Paul Cookson Poetry Workshop (Part 2)

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By Paul Cookson — Literacy Time PLUS Poet-in-Residence

Part 2 of our Paul Cookson poetry workshop features two short films. An audience with Paul Cookson captures a question and answer session with a group of primary school children while, in One step at a time, Paul explains his writing process and how he gets ideas for his poems.

Both of these films can be used for discussion about why and how people write, and as a starting point for the children’s own poems.

‘Where do you get your ideas from?’

...is probably the question I get asked most when visiting schools. Well, poems can begin from anything – from the little things we all relate to: the way mum brushes your hair, grandad’s habits, playing out – to the things that interest us most. It sounds simple but if we are interested in a subject then we are more likely to see it through and finish a poem. And I never go anywhere without a notepad, so I can jot down ideas as they come to me. I don’t always write lots down and, because I travel a lot, I rarely start and finish a poem on the same occasion. Most are written over time.