Sean Taylor

You're a Poet: Ways to Start Writing Poems

About Author

You're a Poet, Sean Taylor's new book about writing poetry, draws on his years of writing and teaching poetry in schools.

Sean grew up in Surrey, worked in publishing and teaching creative writing in London, and joined a writer's group. Since then, he has had over 60 books for children published, ranging from picture books and plays to poetry collections and books for teenagers.

He divides his time between the UK and Brazil, where his wife is from, and cycles to most of his author events. You can find out more about him on his website.

Interview

You're a Poet (Walker Books)

August 2024

Drawing on his years of writing and teaching poetry, Sean Taylor's You're a Poet is an accessible and creative approach to writing poetry for young children. Through a range of stories about Piglet and his activities during his day, illustrated by Sam Usher, children are encouraged to write their own short poems with suggested writing activities alongside each story.

We spoke with poet Sean Taylor to find out how his approach to writing and teaching poetry inspired You're a Poet, and how the book can help encourage a love of reading and writing poetry among all ages.

Q&A with Sean Taylor, introducing You're a Poet

"This book grew directly from my teaching experiences, and also from my heartfelt belief
in the value of writing poetry for young children."

1. Can you start by telling us a little about yourself, the kinds of books you write, and how your own love of poetry started?

I'm the author of over 60 children's books, for many different ages - from picture books to middle grade and fiction for teenagers. I'm giving this interview in Brazil, where I've lived for the past year. It's where my wife is from. We've been married for 30 years and we've spent about half of that time living in England and half of that time living in Brazil.

I've been writing poetry since I was a teenager. And, yes, I love it! I can't say exactly where that love comes from. My mum used to read me poems at bedtime. We had A A Milne's book Now We Are Six, a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Brian Wildsmith, and The Mother Goose Treasury illustrated by Raymond Briggs. Those are special books and I'm sure they played a part!

2. You're well known for writing picture books rather than poetry, so why did you decide to write a book about poetry, You're a Poet?

In fact, my picture book writing grew out of poetry, not the other way around! In my teens I only wrote poetry. In my 20's I was regularly performing on the performance poetry circuit at venues like London's Apples and Snakes. So publishing my poetry collection for 4-8 year-olds, The Dream Train: Poems for Bedtime in 2022 was a homecoming for me, rather than a departure. And You're a Poet (which consists of five stories about a young poet, and five poetry challenges for young writers to try their hands at) is part of the same homecoming.

3. Do you teach poetry?

I've been running poetry-writing workshops for children in primary schools since the early 1990's. That's absolutely key to You're a Poet. The five poetry challenges in the book are among my poetry workshop favourites. The book grew directly from my teaching experiences, and also from my heartfelt belief in the value of writing poetry for young children.

"The truth is that poetry should a freeing form of literature for both teachers and children.
It's less bound by rules than other kinds of writing."

4. Is poetry seen as a hard subject to teach?

Definitely. I've come across many primary school teachers who feel unsure about how to start teaching poetry, often because they don't read poetry outside of school, themselves. Some even seem scared of teaching poetry. It's a shame. I run a workshop for primary school teachers to build teachers' confidence around teaching poetry. (It's called WELCOME TO POETRY.)

The truth is that poetry should a freeing form of literature for both teachers and children. It's less bound by rules than other kinds of writing. You should have no fear of poetry. It's different things to different people. It's a tree with many branches. And it's fine to focus on the parts of it that engage you. A teacher doesn't have to know every single branch of the tree to appreciate and enjoy poetry. And the same goes for children.

5. In You're a Poet, why did you decide to approach creating poems through Piglet's activities with his family and friends?

Story is a great engager. Story is the way into You're a Poet. The narratives are warm, lively, inviting tales of childhood delights and dramas. I want readers to be drawn into the main (piglet poet!) character's adventures, then led by the stories to the poetry challenges.

6. Can you tell us about the writing activities in the book to encourage children to write their own poems?

The poem-writing challenges are brought to life by the stories and are all very simple. But there's a progression which mirrors the way I look to take young writers during my writing workshops.

First, the reader is encouraged to write a very simple, descriptive poem. Then they'll experiment with slightly more complicated ways of making description and music from words. And the last challenge is to come up with a poem that speaks from their own life and feelings.

7. What are the 'writing secrets' sections for?

The writing secrets are additional tips that I have learned to give children in my poetry workshops.

"I hope young readers will be encouraged to have a go at writing some poems."

8. What do you hope children will have achieved by the end of the book? Do you also hope the book will help inspire adults in teaching poetry?

I hope young readers will be encouraged to have a go at writing some poems. (And I mean 'encouraged' in the truest sense of the word - given heart inside.) I have the same hope for teachers who engage with the book. I like the idea of them using the book in exactly the same way as young readers. If they feel invited-in by the stories and engaged by the poetry challenges, they'll be in the perfect (creatively enthusiastic) frame of mind to share the book with young children.

9. How important has poetry been in your own life?

Poetry is central. I love to read it. I love to write it. I give my friends a poem at Christmas. I wrote a poem and read it out at my grandfather and my mother's funeral. I live the way poets do - paying attention to the world.

10. What are your go-to poems for sharing with children?

Here are some favourites. I hope there may be something among them that is new to you and will become a favourite of your own…

Too Many Daves by Dr Seuss [from The Sneetches & Other Stories 1961]
Silence by Valerie Bloom [from The World is Sweet, 2000]
The Woman of Water by Adrian Mitchell [from All My Own Stuff, 1991]
Don't Call Alligator Long Mouth by John Agard [1989]
Growing by Tony Mitton [from My Hat and All That, 2006]
The Moreaps by Joseph Coelho [from Werewolf Club Rules, 2015]
The Warm and the Cold by Ted Hughes [from Poems for Children, 2008]
The Midnight Skaters by Roger McGough [from All the Best, 2003]
In the Barn by Gillian Clarke [from Around the World in 80 Poems, 2001]
To See a Unicorn by Adrian Mitchell [from Daft as a Doughnut, 2004]

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