Clowning around with words: Goldsmiths alumna to lead circus poetry workshop

Poet and Goldsmiths alumna Ella Frears will be juggling stanzas this weekend as she leads a circus-themed writing workshop for children.

The London Laureate who completed her BA (Hons) in English with Creative Writing last year is taking part in the Lewisham Story Festival.

She will be exploring different ways of writing by taking on the voices of the people and animals in a circus at the Big Top Poems! bash being held at Manor House Library.

Aimed at children aged 8 – 14 and their parents or carers, Ella is expecting to encounter the full range of circus perfomers, characters and beasts to feature in the workshop which takes place on Saturday 19 September.

Ella, 23, said: “I think there will be a lot about animals, clowns and acrobats. I’ll be looking at poetry as form and we’ll be writing in stanzas.”

She hopes the event will help spread the word and a love of poetry among youngsters in Lewisham. “I’ve lived in London for the last four years and started to get involved in the community,” said Ella.

“Quite often poetry is not introduced in schools so these kind of events are about showing poetry to people that may not have much experience of it.

“I want to show that it’s not just spoken word events, which are fantastic, but that poetry as a form on the page is very exciting and can appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds."

Since finishing her BA (Hons) English with Creative Writing last year Ella has been commissioned by a number of organisations, including Tate Britain and the Olympic Park.

This summer also saw her installed as poet in residence at the National Trust’s Knole House, where she ran Deer Diary writing workshops for children.

Ella is also a London Laureate after being shortlisted for the Young Poet Laureate last year – and was recently shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize.

Ella, who is also a visual artist, said: “It’s s been a great year. I loved my time at Goldsmiths – it was such a brilliant course that introduced me to such a wide range of writing.”

This weekend sees the first Lewisham Story Festival Family Weekend – two days of free family fun at locations across the borough.

The weekend is presented by Story Matters, a not-for-profit community interest company based in Lewisham. The organisation helps create schools programmes and community events that use different approaches to storytelling to help children to succeed at school and in life.

For more information visit the Lewisham Story Festival website http://storyfestival.co.uk/.