Making poetry at the British Library

As a reward for their commitment to shadowing the Carnegie shortlist, eleven Beaumont Book Club students enjoyed a literary day out in London this week. Accompanied by Mrs Mayer-Khan and Mrs Shepard, the Year 7 and Year 8 students spent a happy day exploring the British Library and taking part in a creative writing workshop.

 

To inspire the group, Jenneba, a professional writer and Library guide, took the students into the Sir John Riblat Treasures room. This gallery contains over 200 fascinating books and documents, including Leonardo da Vinci's notebook, the Magna Carta and hand-written lyrics by the Beatles.

 

We then attended a 'Write Here!' workshop. Using the Treasures room exhibits as their inspiration, and guided by some fantastic activities and literary advice from Jenneba, the students each created their own piece of creative writing. This work focussed on the structure needed in a narrative and will form the framework of a short story or a novella.

 

To end the session, the group put their work and ideas together to create two collaborative poems which the students then performed. The poems, entitled Leaving the Darkness and Blood Flows, are both highly creative and are testament to the students' commitment to the workshop and to their appreciation of Jenneba's advice and input. 

 

 

After lunch the students were given time to wander and discover the Library themselves. Here are just some of the mind-blowing facts we learned on our fantastic day at the British Library:

 

The British Library has over 190 million items, including manuscripts, books, drawings and music scores.

 

The Library receives a copy of EVERY publication produced in the UK and Ireland.

 

The Library basements, where items are housed, extend to a depth of over 24 metres.

 

Books travel from the basements to the reading rooms on a series of conveyor belts hidden inside the Library's walls!