Young Creator Poetry Exercises
Designing our Book and Reading our Writing
(have some extra paper handy for working out your ideas on)
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PART ONE

Portraits –
Important: Remember what we have been looking at from the archives, like the List of Executions, think about photo ‘style’ side and front profiles? Police line up style? black and white?

Now take each other’s portraits, no jokey shots, try to get a picture that makes the other person look ‘serious’.

Editing:
Read from each other’s collection of existing work – this can include writing that you have written outside of these poetry sessions if you wish.

Portraits, Documentation and Poetry:

1) Select one or more images (except a picture of yourself!) from the existing archive of photos of us working in the Record Office, Library or Art Gallery, and one of something in the archive library or art gallery.

2) Write a two line couplet about your favourite film or music, to go with your existing writing –about the past- it can be about something contemporary that you like.

3) Design your name as a “Masthead” top of page headline. should it go on the left hand side, in the centre, or down the bottom of the page?

4) Take copies of your writing and selected images and portraits to lay out your double page spread (remember there is a fold, or crease in the middle of the page!)

If necessary cut out your words and images, into small bits or lines. Ask if you need something printed out again.

PART TWO

Designing the book to go in the Record Office Archive and the Spoken Word

1) Deciding on the page order, and the running order of the presentation.
should the book be:
alphabetical?
Boys first?
Girls first?
Does it make sense to have one person’s page before someone elses?

How many pages will the book end up having?

2) Lastly, practice reading out the poems, focusing on your timing, rhythm and rhyme. Remember to think in terms of Meter (da Da da Da da DA… etc)