Looking through a cupboard this morning I came across some of my children's books from thirty odd years ago - and amongst them was "Out And About" by the great Shirley Hughes, who died yesterday. She must have proved the introduction to reading for thousands and thousands of children. Her beautiful illustrations and wonderful stories captivated my two; she had tremendous talent and such an understanding of the young mind. Today is World Book Day and all over the world, in schools, libraries, bookshops and supermarkets, on YouTube and so many other platforms the aim is to involve today's youngsters, to "change lives through a love of books and shared reading". Shirley Hughes made a huge contribution to doing just that for so many in her time.
When I lived in Cheltenham for many years, I often had the pleasure of hearing the local poet Alison Brackenbury read. But the reading I heard her give last night at the launch of her new collection "Thorpeness" (Carcanet) was stunning. Her poems ranged over time and place; they encompassed her grandmother's recipe book ("custard seas in which all puddings swam"), finding the shattered remains of willow pattern pottery ("smudged lovers soar unbroken"), the location she'd always wanted to visit but never reached (where "three swallows snatch a gust, a breath"). Fellow Cheltenham poet David Clarke interviewed her after the reading and it was fascinating to hear her speak about her method of working, about how important rhyme and meter are to her, about her admiration for young poets. Of all the sessions on Zoom I've attended in the last two years, yesterday evening's was head and shoulders above the rest.
And still on poetry - I've just booked a place on the Laureate's Library Tour, running over the week at the end of the month that includes World Poetry Day (March 21st), It's part of Simon Armitage's ten year project to read in UK libraries - he's approaching it alphabetically, so this time it's C - D towns and cities! There are sessions in England, Scotland and Wales (the Welsh one in Carmarthen, with the National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn, which I'm really looking forward to). The sessions are all free on line, and in person in some places. If you aren't aware of them, do look them up, they promise to be well worth attending. As the Director General of UNESCO wrote for World Poetry Day a year ago, poetry has "the power to shake us from everyday life and the power to remind us of the beauty that surrounds us and the resilience of the human spirit" - certainly words for our troubled world just now.
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