POET Lemn Sissay has been working with Huddersfield youngsters.
Huddersfield University’s Centre for Applied Childhood Studies organised a two-day creative expression workshop for young people with the celebrated poet.
The “My Space!! - It ain't where you go...it's where you're at...” event celebrated and showcased the talents of young people from across Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield.
It culminated in a performance involving Lemn and the youngsters attended by friends and relatives.
Activities included creative writing, a drumming workshop and a drama session with a Hollyoaks script writer.
“It’s great to see people empowered by their own imagination and see their desire to be creative fulfilled through poetry,” said Lemn.
“I think of poetry and creativity as life-affirming.
“The story, the poem, the song lyric; words are around us all the time.
“For me, the communication of ideas and the impulse to create original things are central to who and what we are.”
Lemn is a prolific author, playwright and poet in residence at the South Bank Centre in London.
His work has become public art, appearing on buildings and streets around the country.
It is featured on many music albums – most notably Leftism by Leftfield – and in various short films.
Lemn is also editor of The Fire People: A Collection of Contemporary Black British Poets, and his poems have appeared in many anthologies.
Prof Adele Jones, the university centre’s director, said: “This workshop, organised in collaboration with the university’s Drama and Youth and Community Work departments, aimed to show looked-after young people that university attendance is something to aspire to, as well as give them the opportunity to express themselves through creative writing.”
