John Agard visits Queen Anne's for National Poetry Day 2022

National Poetry Day at Queen Anne’s School was celebrated with a visit from the highly acclaimed Guyanese/British poet John Agard.

Agard has several published collections of poetry and was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012, as well as the Book Trust’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. Most recently, Agard published a poem Windrush Child to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the arrival of the ship The Empire Windrush.  Agard’s poems have featured in several GCSE anthologies since 2002, meaning that many students study his work for their GCSE examinations. Queen Anne’s GCSE students study Agard’s poem ‘Half Caste’ and our Lower School students study several Agard poems in their Poetry from Other Cultures unit.

The day began with a seminar for Queen Anne’s Afro Caribbean Society, made up of various year groups, where Agard spoke about his writing process and how he derives inspiration from being observant. To illustrate, he shared a poem with the group that he had written whilst on the train to Reading, inspired by watching other passengers who spent the journey scrolling on their mobile phones. Students were very lucky to be the first ones to hear John perform this newly penned poem.

In the afternoon, the middle school and A Level Literature students sat in an excellent assembly where John performed some of his most famous poems. The most notable performances were his Hippo Love Songs – Hippo to her husband and Hippo to his wife, which left students in stitches, and Half-caste, a poem about racism and identity.

Agard’s assembly for the lower school students was the final event of the day, where he read from his beautifully illustrated book ‘Windrush Child’. The poem describes the journey made by thousands of Caribbean families who travelled to Britain as part of the Windrush Generation between 1948 and 1971.

The day concluded with a special book signing where students purchased their favourite books by Agard and met with him to get them signed. Many thanks to John Agard for such an insightful and inspiring day to celebrate National Poetry Day 2022.