Poet inspires creative thinking and laughter at QE

Leading poet John Mole gave Year 7 boys plenty to ponder during a special visit to the School.

As part of the Year 7 enrichment programme, the Poetry Society’s Poet in Residence to the City of London was invited to QE to speak to pupils on writing poetry.  Mr Mole, who is also an accomplished jazz clarinettist and jazz reviewer, is renowned for poetry that seeks to make political themes accessible to young people.

The aim of the event, which was organised by English teacher Victoria Maule, was to inspire pupils to think more creatively and imaginatively about poetry.

Mr Mole has won several prizes for his work, including an Eric Gregory award, Signal Award and Cholmondeley Award. He began by introducing the pupils to a number of riddles, which they were asked to interpret using their creative thinking skills.

“Our Year 7 boys were undaunted by the challenge and came up with some inspiring and highly original interpretations that demonstrated their ability to think metaphorically and imaginatively,” said Ms Maule. “John went on to read a range of his longer poems, often enlightening us as to the planning and creative processes behind the finished product, and from where he found his sources of inspiration. The event was very popular and our boys clearly benefitted from the lively question-and-answer session which rounded off the visit.”

John Mole had to face a range of challenging questions, which he answered with a series of anecdotes that provoked much thought and laughter.

“Introducing our boys to this calibre of guest speaker is exactly the way to inspire them to engage more creatively and originally with the often neglected curriculum area of poetry,” concluded Ms Maule.  “John Mole’s immensely personal approach, and highly entertaining delivery, left our boys inspired, energised, and eager to go forward and create poetry of their own.”