Now more than ever we need stories to engage, distract, and entertain us; tales that help us make sense of what we’re living through.
With this in mind, enthusiastic poets and writers from Years 10, 11, and 12 joined an online Arvon workshop with poetry tutors Frances Leviston and Paul Batchelor.
Using a range of pens and paper, shared Google Docs, online chats, and video conferencing platforms, the girls read Stevie Smith, Selima Hill, and Deborah Levy, and composed imaginative short poems and sections of prose.
If you’re interested in Arvon courses, every Wednesday evening an Arvon tutor will host a live online session to read from their work and answer any questions.
Here are some excerpts from our students’ compositions:
‘The last thing I remember seeing was the trees towering over me while gravel and stones pricked my back.’ Muskaan, Y10
‘I knelt before it, awash in perspiration, a baptism of sin. I opened the box in the Virgin’s hand.’ Isabel, Y10
‘…no commuters’ bustle fills the air, no cheap coffee stains trace the platform and she’s nowhere to be seen.’ Naomi, Y11
‘a decimated paper chain trailed sadly onto the floor, torn loops drooping like disappointed faces.’ Caitlin, Y12
‘I knew I did not have long – but I needed to get out of the carpet section and through all the linens still, out to the garage: my pursuers would not have consideration for people or property once I was found.’ Lucy, Y10