Dear Charlie,
I'm urging you and all the students to write poems.
However, that's certainly more easily said than done.
I trust in your motivation and your skills, but to give you perspective, I also thought, you might like to look at the works of some British and American Poet Laureates
A Poet Laureate is selected because he has an important role to play. His/her work is supposed to be significant of his/her country and time and make their readers think about their world, about themselves and the need for poetry in our life.
On the other hand poet laureates can be in a tricky position and provoke controversy because they embody 'official poetry' and to many, poetry is by essence a subversive art
There was recently an intense debate about it in Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/books/free-verse-or-odes-made-to-order/2009/06/04/1243708563164.html?page=fullpage
http://www.johnkinsella.org/essays/laureate.html.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/australia-needs-a-laureate/story-e6freon6-1111118483368?nk=e8cbc2b4f2a446acfd08e7ac2d76e93a
http://anotherlostshark.com/2009/01/11/the-role-of-poet-laureate-does-australia-need-one/
If you look at the list of the Poet Laureates of the UK, you'll recognise a few names, It'll be up to you to decide what sort of Poet Laureate they were and how to define the role of a Poet Laureate.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0002282.html
By the way, as you probably know, you can find a Poet Laureate, Lord Alfred Tennyson, and one of his poem mentioned in Regeneration, the work we are currently studying with the Première.
To discover the poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzCOL6ewpPw
You'll notice that the current poet laureate is a Scottish female poet and that choice is in my opinion quite significant.
To learn more about her, check the following links
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/27/carol-ann-duffy-poet-laureate-interview
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/01/carol-ann-duffy-poet-laureate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZy7_nreFac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ig5v4THEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxrMznlN6i4
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/02/premonitions-carol-ann-duffy
In relation to the theme of Remembrance, I think it's important to know that Carol Ann Duffy recently wrote a poem to commemorate the First World War
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jul/31/carol-ann-duffy-last-post
I imagine you're also interested in other countries' Poet Laureates.
Poet Laureates for the USA
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/media/
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-2011-present.html
The current Poet Laureate for the USA is Charles Wright. Quite an interesting choice as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/books/charles-wright-named-americas-poet-laureate.html?_r=0
http://againstoblivion.blogspot.fr/2009/07/father-hopkins.html
For Canada:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/Poet/index.asp?language=E¶m=1
For New Zealand:
http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/
I hope, I have not overwhelmed you with links and videos (it's always great to hear a poet read his/her own poetry) and that whatever you think of Poet Laureates, you enjoyed discovering
these poets and their work.
I also you won't mind that we choose our own OIB Poet Laureate at Saint Charles's, I'll tell you more about it later
Best,
Mrs. C
For Canada:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/Poet/index.asp?language=E¶m=1
For New Zealand:
http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/
I hope, I have not overwhelmed you with links and videos (it's always great to hear a poet read his/her own poetry) and that whatever you think of Poet Laureates, you enjoyed discovering
these poets and their work.
I also you won't mind that we choose our own OIB Poet Laureate at Saint Charles's, I'll tell you more about it later
Best,
Mrs. C
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