Danum School

The third and final of my days taking the South Yorkshire Poetry Slam into schools saw me  and Charlotte head over to Danum academy to work with some year 7's and, as a one off, some year nines (with some year 8s watching)

The poems written were all fantastic, ranging from supernatural preoccupations to the Iraq war to the sinking of the Titanic; anyone who says kids only see poetry and rhyme as a vehicle for nonsense and glib comments would have been challenged by the intensity and intelligence on show from the pupils.  We ended the day with a really strong bunch of twelve who are hoping they can beat Balby Carr (winning the whole slam is a distant second to this particular aim of asserting dominance over local Doncaster rivals)

All the young people seemed to have a great time and the school was welcoming and accommodating to the oft frantic pace these Slam days can create; it's a cliche but all the kids deserved to win or go through. It isn't the prizes, maybe it's not even the poems it's the participation that counts.  Building something from nothing, creating something out of yourself, making poetry  

Andrew McMillan