Patience Agbabi, one of Britain’s most prominent spoken word poets, and her bear Byron, encouraged English students at Peter Symonds College to get in touch with their creative spirit to explore word and rhyme and start to write a ‘remix’ poem based on ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by leading First World War poet - Wilfred Owen.

Whilst illustrating how the poem might sound with some examples of her own ‘remixes’, Patience admitted to the group that like many other modern poets she loves not only the rhythms and sounds of language in her works (using them to illustrate a variety of cultures), but she strives also to cradle her pieces within the forms and structures more commonly found in traditional English poetry.

The afternoon workshop was made possible by the inaugural Winchester Poetry Festival, which was launched in the city in March by Roger McGough, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Poetry Please’. The workshop was the first in a series to inspire teenagers to get involved in the
upcoming Festival, 12th- 14th September 2014, by writing their own poetry to compete in a Poetry Slam. The Poetry Slam is being held on the afternoon of 12th September in the Performance Hall at Winchester Discovery Centre. Any schools interested in learning more about this event should contact Paul Davies, Head of English Literature, at Peter Symonds College.

“We were delighted to welcome Patience into the College,” says Paul Davies, Head of English Literature, “she both entertained and inspired the students with her imagination and energy.”
He adds, “Patience will be one of the many national, and local, poets supporting the first ever Winchester Poetry Festival in September; she can be heard delivering some of her remixed versions of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales for the 21st century on Saturday 13th September.”
Paul concludes, “The Winchester Poetry Festival offers young people the opportunity to engage with living poetry and to appreciate our rich poetic heritage. My hope is that the Poetry Slam and other events will inspire them to find their own poetic voice and possibly become a poet
of tomorrow.”