Poetry Moves Beyond the Classroom

Poetry Moves: an Anthology of Poetry began as a passion project with Angelia Poon, Esther Vincent and Ann Ang.

Poetry Moves Editors Esther, Ann, Angelia and Chin Ee during a Zoom Meeting

Angelia, Esther and I had curated poems for Little Things, an anthology for lower secondary students, in 2013. The inspiration for the anthology sprang from our understanding that poetry was to be read and enjoyed, not just studied. We wanted to put a poetry book in the home of every teenager and open up the possibility of browsing and serendipitous finds. We also wanted to support literature teachers with a selection of poems that they could use in their literature classroom.

Though the Singapore literary scene had matured, we knew that many teachers and students may not have have the time to acquaint themselves with the rich and varied poems available. We wanted to introduce teachers and students to a selection of Singapore poems, juxtaposed with poems from Asia and other parts of the world. We provided a teachers’ guide to help teachers

Since 2013, Little Things had been well-used by teachers and students. One of the most memorial events for me was watching students use poems from Little Things for choral reading during the National Literature Festival one year. Ethos has continued to support teachers’ work by organising an annual teaching workshop where teachers share their strategies to encourage the love and skill of reading poetry.

In line with our desire to continue our support of Literature educators, we decided to work on a new anthology to support upper secondary students, with Ann Ang on our team. As with Little Things, Poetry Moves is an anthology for anybody and everybody. But keeping the needs of teachers and students in mind, we selected poems that would allow them to discuss style and issues that were pertinent to the age group. We hoped that teachers, students and readers would read the poems comparatively, juxtaposing different poems to reveal new understandings.

Illustrator Elen Winata helped us to bring to live the thematic connections chosen - Words and Things, Spaces and Places, Connections, Crossings and Origins - with her award-winning illustrations. These illustrations are each meant to be a conversation starter, an entry into possible emotions, issues and themes.

As part of the launch for Poetry Moves, we had initially planned a workshop for teachers in May. But with Work From Home (WFH) and Home-Based Learning (HBL) setting in, the workshop was no longer possible. Instead, the editors decided to support teachers and students during HBL by creating one online lesson a month, based on poems in the anthology. Lesson 1 focuses on the Dance of the Mayflies and Lesson 2 focuses on Barbie’s Shoes by Hilary Tham. You can find the lessons here.

I do hope the anthology and lessons will help poetry move beyond the classroom.