News from English

A Level English students watched a poetry performance by Patience Agbabi, here are some of their thoughts and reflections on the event:

“She undercovers social problems like racism, homophobia, and class differences all while still telling a story.” “I honestly think this opportunity was a great learning experience and I would love to have another opportunity to listen to another poet, and learn about their poetry.”

“Give me a word… I’ll give you a word.” “The way she played with rhythm and tone was captivating — I didn’t expect poetry to sound like that.”

“Patience Agbabi delivered an inspiring and motivating talk that makes her layered and complex writing seem like a universal gift that we all have the potential to enhance if we desire and endeavor to achieve it.”

“Agbabi spoke about her poems, the meaning behind them, and how to apply that to our own analysis and poetry.”

“It was inspiring to see someone so passionate about her craft and to understand how her poetry connects to modern themes.”

“We were also able to ask questions to which she gave insightful answers to and demonstrated what it was like being a poet and how to get involved.”

“Hearing her perform her poems brought them to life and made the messages even more powerful.”

“Patience Agbabi is an inspirational poet and writer celebrated for paying equal homage to performance and literature which I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing her linguistically rhythmed and satisfying works.”

“The recent poetry reading by Patience Agbabi was a truly dynamic and inspirational event for the 64 students we brought to the event.”

“She delivered some of her poems and projects in a very engaging way, and it really brought out the meaning behind her words.”

“It was amazing to hear her older and newer poems side by side and to see how her voice as a writer has evolved.”

“The poetry session was a great learning experience as it allowed me to immerse myself in the poetry and I could absorb the effects of how Patience Agbabi pronounced and spoke the words, allowing me to better understand her poems, particularly Eat Me, which we are studying.”

“I had the opportunity to go to Patience Agbabi’s poetry conference and it opened my eyes to how poetry can be performed and interpreted.”

“Patience read and performed her poems in such an enthusiastic and captivating way that we were able to follow through and see the passion that she has for poetry.” “Seeing Patience has helped me to understand the power that poetry and the arts have on us and how it can be used to express everything in life.”

“She was engaging and friendly, encouraging audience participation and provoking deep thought and conversation around some of the themes of her poems.” “I particularly enjoyed the performance of ‘Josephine Baker finds herself’ because of its interesting structure. The poem is mirrored and therefore the second half has a changed meaning from the first half even though the same words are used.” “Going forward, I hope to be able to put some of what I learnt into practice when I write songs.”

“It was very interesting to understand her thoughts and inspirations around the poem, and see how an idea that she had has grown because of other people reading the poem themselves, and coming up with their own interpretations.” “She was a very passionate and enthusiastic speaker, who really seemed to love her work and what she does, which was very inspirational.” “I had never heard this style of poetry before and it was very interesting to discover a new form that creates such a powerful impact.”

“Agbabi’s confident performance radiated passion, making this whole experience incredibly inspiring and rewarding.” “She offered detailed advice for aspiring writers as well as talked through her development as a writer and how she got to where she is now, which I found really helpful in regard to what I need to do to get to that stage in my career.” “Agbabi’s poems discussed a variety of meaningful topics and were performed in such a way that made it feel personal, pushing a sense of connectivity with both her and everyone in the audience.”

“It was fascinating to hear directly from the poet her thoughts behind her poetry and the meanings were even more apparent through her own readings of the poem.” “She was also kind towards us as young people and made the session even more interesting through her interactive nature with us.” “This poetry session I will use as an influence on my creativity in the future and an influence on what I choose as inspirations.”

“Her passion and love for literature evident in her excited tone.” “I didn’t feel as though I was just listening to poetry being read, I left feeling more educated and aware of humanity.” “One thing I will most certainly take away from this experience is Patience’s advice on how to start writing — for me this is the most challenging part, so I will definitely try to implement her mentality of writing about ordinary things until it begins to merge itself into a story of sorts.”

“She approached these subjects with sensitivity and an insight which I found very moving.” “They are clearly conveyed in her poem ‘Ufo woman’, which explores these very personal aspects of humanity with both poignant and universal emotions.” “I will think of her words of wisdom when reading poetry from now on!”

“The pride she holds towards her poetry and writing is truly amazing and inspiring.” “I especially enjoyed hearing Agbabi perform her poem ‘Eat Me’ as it is one that I have studied at A-Level and I found it to be very interesting hearing her perform it in person.” “In the future, I will add the same pride and honour over my writing that Agbabi does to her own.”

“Her rap-based poetry encourages discussion about real-world issues, as well as her own personal experiences – she doesn’t shy away from them, no matter how uncomfortable or disturbing they are.” “Her semantic fields and extended metaphors were effective and inspiring, so I would like to incorporate that, too.” “She has definitely encouraged me to be more playful with my own writing.”

“As a whole I was in awe of her passion and confidence when performing her poems from memory.” “Her speech was engaging and effortless as she spoke, with her poems both rhyming and rapping, making the experience satisfying.” “Her work has this remarkable effect on the people who listen.”

“What really caught my attention was the way she read her poetry. She didn’t just read it but she used rhythm and emotions to add more meaning.” “It helped me realise how much more effective poetry is when it is read aloud as opposed to being read in your head.” “Having listened to her, I feel more inspired to include emotion and rhythm in my own work.”

“Even though poetry isn’t on my A-Level spec, this was still an insightful experience; one that I thoroughly enjoyed.” “It gave me a chance to hear how they’re supposed to be read, with their meaning expressed through Patience’s voice, and how her pauses sounded so natural.” “It was overall a rather revelatory experience into her poetry, one that I’m grateful to have been able to attend.”