“Cool Poet” Ash Dickinson Runs Workshop for Year 9

The aim of the workshop was to enrich the year group’s study of war and conflict poetry. The pupils had previously studied Ash’s poem ‘Call It Duty’, which he talked about and read to the pupils. Ash also presented a range of hands-on activities to encourage the pupils to experiment with rhyme, structural features and poetic forms. There was a lively Q&A session in which the year group quizzed him about the life of a poet.

Year 9 pupil Henry said: “Ash Dickinson is such a cool poet that I enjoyed every second of it! It was filled with laughter, and a joyous occasion to be part of. My favourite part was probably getting tips from him to make my poetry better.”

“I enjoyed how interactive it was,” added Florence. “We got to write our own poems, and he was very supportive.”

A full-time poet, Dickinson is also a multiple slam champion who has performed in Australia, Canada, USA, Spain, Jordan, the Czech Republic and Germany. He has headlined countless shows and festivals throughout the UK. Next week, he will be headlining at an event in Paris as well as running poetry workshops.

Dickinson’s debut collection, Slinky Espadrilles was the very first title published by Burning Eye Books. His second major collection, Strange Keys out in 2016. A collection for younger years, Show Cats In Transit, came out in 2019. His latest collection Instructions for Outlaws was published in 2022.