Age guideline 13+
About the event
Novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and one of the UK’s most acclaimed spoken-word artists, Steven Camden (also known as Polarbear) chats to Micah Lees about making a living through creativity. They explains how Steven’s career came about since he didn’t even consider the arts an option as a kid. He chats about his creative inspiration and where this takes him and what it's like performing poetry in front of an audience. Steven reveals the challenges of writing and performing during the coronavirus pandemic and how he has adapted for the times. He also discusses whether writing poetry is more creatively challenging than writing a novel - Steven’s latest YA is Nobody Real.
How to access the event
Listen to the event on SoundCloud here.
Teacher Resources
Steven talks about writing, the immediacy of connection through performance poetry, the importance of exploring the confusions, the pain and the joy of teenage years. Learn more about Steven and his work at http://www.bearstories.org/
Here’s tips on how to perform poetry from writer, broadcaster and poet Michael Rosen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvV23xoZRkI
The Poetry Society has a fantastic range of projects and resources to support poetry with young people: https://poetrysociety.org.uk/education/ In particular their Page Fright project takes 4 spoken word poets who chose a poem from traditional canon, perform it and then perform one of their own poems that responds to it and includes writing resources too. http://poetrysociety.org.uk/education/page-fright/
About the authors
Steven Camden is a leading spoken-word poet, performing as Polarbear. He also writes radio plays, teaches storytelling in schools,and was a lead artist for The Ministry of Stories. You can find more about Steven (and videos) on his website Home of Polar here
Twitter: @homeofpolar
Facebook: /StevenCamdentheAuthor
About Micah Lees
Micah Lees is an 18 year old full time college student in the arts and previous HNC childcare student. Micah’s accomplishments include performing two shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and taking part in writing short stories for a queer anthology. Micah values student led working and mutual respect and uses this when practising as a learning assistant and hopes to further this during studies in theatre. Outside of work, Micah enjoys taking care of two cats Mossball and Bug, singing and writing.
About the festival partners
This event has been programmed by Bath Children’s Literature Festival
Bath Festivals is a charity that brings you the Bath Children’s Literature Festival, Europe’s largest dedicated children’s literature festival with a vibrant array of talks and activities for children. They are also responsible for The Bath Festival in the summer which bring the city alive with a celebration of music and books in the beautiful venues and spaces of the world heritage city. By creating innovative and diverse programmes, their festivals inspire and provide unique experiences for residents and visitors to Bath and surrounding areas. Their year-round creative learning programme of hands-on music and literature projects gives children and young people opportunities to gain real-world experience, building their inner confidence and improving communication skills through the arts.