Wednesday 24 December 2008

Cool Yule

Here's a splendid poem for the season, reproduced with kind permission of its author Shona Ashton (11).

You forget the true meaning of Christmas
The birth of Santa Claus
Here he comes now in his manger
Pulled by wild boars.

He had to use his manger
Cos his sleigh failed its MOT
Plus there was no snow this year
And the sleigh's a snow-riding machine.

Rudolph's lightbulb has broken
Either that or the battery's gone
The reindeers won't go anywhere without him
He's their hero, their Number One.

Santa has had enough now
Everything's going wrong
So if you're still waiting for presents
Be prepared to be waiting quite long.

Monday 22 December 2008

Adrian Mitchell 1932 - 2008

Very sad news that Adrian Mitchell died on 20th December. Dubbed the 'Shadow Poet Laureate' by Red Pepper magazine, he was an inspiring, galvanising performer, a prolific playwright and poet of unsurpassed integrity, honesty and wit. Here's the Guardian obituary and the Bloodaxe page which includes video footage of Adrian reading his poetry.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Poet Laureate X Factor

The debate about Andrew Motion's successor continues. Here's Motion's advice and Mark Lawson's sharp take on it all (with a string of comments and proposals from others).

The DCMS is going to consult the public. Who would you vote for? Pam Ayres? Simon Armitage?