I don't think they differ much. I don't like writing for children that is 'writing for children'. If it is any good, then adults will like it too. When I create a voice or a character, I go through the same process whether that voice is a child's or an adult's. When I am writing for children, my own childhood - my past - comes swimming back. I like to keep the conversation open between myself as an adult and myself as a child. When I am creating children's characters, the gap between childhood and adulthood doesn't seem all that large.

What do you remember about poetry in school when you were a child? Was school the place where you got excited about it?

No, school wasn't. I liked going to Burns Suppers, where I loved the address to the Haggis. I liked the idea that poetry could be very dramatic. I loved going to poetry readings at the Highland Institute in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, to Poetry and PInts nights. More pints than poetry, but a lot of fun.

The curriculum is very crowded and demanding these days. What would you say to a teacher who asked: Why bother with poetry?

Poetry is language at its most rich. Poetry can surprise and astonish. People turn to poetry often at moments in their lives which are extreme - they might be in love, or recently bereaved. Poetry speaks to people directly at moments like this. Students who understand the music of poetry will also become better at writing prose. The techniques of poetry - metaphor, rhythm, conciseness - can be used in any form of writing, to great effect. When you read poetry you realise that there are many multiple meanings in one single short poem. Poetry provokes discussion and argument. Poetry inhabits ideas better than any other form. Poetry stands the test of time. A true poem is always memorable.

You've worked on numerous projects in schools, and it must be difficult to pick a favourite. But are there one or two which are particularly memorable?

I'm currently working at Wingfield Arts in Suffolk. I like this a lot. I have a tiny room overlooking flat fields. I leave my small room and go driving up and down the flooded country lanes to arrive at various country schools. I like the differences between country kids and city kids. I liked working with a group of school children from Radclyffe School, Oldham in Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre. That was exciting because the kids had a chance to really use the theatre and to put on a performance at the end. And I particularly enjoyed running a school's course at the Arvon Foundation at Lumb Bank with pupils from Richmond School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington. The Arvon courses are excellent for sixth form students. They get to be away from the school environment in a big house with two teachers, two writers and sixteen students. The work they produced was stunning.

What three things would make your work in schools more rewarding?

1. Small workshop groups of twelve or more. 
2. Teacher participation. 
3. Students reading at least one poem of mine before I get there.

What are you writing at the moment?

I have just finished writing a novel for children called Strawgirl. I am very excited about it because it is my first novel for children. I enjoyed writing it a lot.

Which poetry books do you think should be on every classroom bookshelf?

For Junior pupils
Anthologies: 
Read Me (ed Gaby Wood, Macmillan) 
The Faber Book of Children's Poems (ed Matthew Sweeney) 
Ring of Words (ed Roger McGough, Faber) 
The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse (ed Neil Phillip) 
Single collections: 
The Oldest Girl in The World, Carol Ann Duffy (Faber) 
The All-Nite Cafe, Phillip Gross (Faber) 
Charles Causley Selected Poems for Children (Macmillan)

For Secondary pupils 
Anthologies: 
I01 Short Poems (ed Simon Armitage, Faber) 
Emergency Kit (ed Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney) 
Time's Tiding (ed Carol Ann Duffy, Anvil) 
Poetry with an Edge (ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe)

I'd also encourage children to compile their own anthologies, or to search through several books to find particular poets. They could do a search for Grace Nichols, or Matthew Sweeney, Valerie Bloom or Kit Wright, Roger McGough or Benjamin Zephaniah in several anthologies. It would be fun finding out which anthologies had poems by Michael Rosen and which didn't.

Which contemporary poets would you recommend to teachers who wanted to start enjoying poetry themselves? 

Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage,John Agard, Don Paterson, Seamus Heaney, Kathleen Jamie, Grace Nichols, Alice Oswald, Paul Muldoon, Moniza Alvi and many more. I would say to teachers: Read widely,and remember that reading and writing are opposite sides of the same coin.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Jackie Kay
Jackie Kay received a Forward Prize for her first collection The Adoption Papers which was also adapted for radio.  She has published two books of poetry for children (Two's Company, with Shirley Tourret; The Frog Who Dreamed She Was an Opera Singer, with Sue Williams) and has written widely for stage and television. Her latest poetry collection, Off Colour (Bloodaxe, 1998), was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. A collection of short stories, Trout Friday, will be published by Picador next year. 

Questions or comments? e-mail: jeansprackland@poetrysociety.org.uk

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