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Hello cruel world! (just kidding about the ‘cruel’). Welcome to my website, Bard on the Wire. I am a poet, performer, playwright and novelist, not necessarily in that order but definitely a poet first. Since 1981 I have published seven volumes of poetry, a novel, produced/performed seven live shows (including a stint at Edinburgh in 2007) and written and produced several plays for teenagers. After retiring from teaching after 27 years in August 2007, I now run writing (and performing) workshops at schools and festivals. This site includes more details about my publications and shows, what I'm doing at the moment, and my future plans.

If you are looking for a poet (playwright or novelist) for your school, festival or residency, the following list may help.

I am a:

- Poet, novelist, playwright.
- Member of NAWE and Academi
- Writer for children.
- NATE consultant for creative writing, AEA critical theory, A-level Literature.
- Director of youth theatre.
- KS3 resources writer OUP Rollercoasters, KS3-4 resources writer Classical comics (Jane Eyre), KS5 resources writer Hodder living literature.
- Series editor for Harper Collins KS3 resources.

- A-level examiner for AQA and WJEC. (Modern novel, poetry, drama)

I am the:

- Author of the schooldays novel "River Deep Mountain High."
- Poet in residence of Bristol City Football Club.

- ‘Bard of Boudicca’!

- ‘Bard of Arthur!’

I teach:

- Creative writing workshops KS2-KS5;

- Youth and adult drama workshops, including workshops on Teaching King Arthur, Schooldays, Sport (including the 2012 Olympic Games), the Holocaust, Bristol and the Slave Trade, etc. (you can see workshop papers on the above, here);

- A-level Media (see articles in Media Magazine)

For my expert, informative (and invariably flattering) views on my own poetry, and other issues, visit my blog!

Photograph copyright Simon Barber

SecEd review of River Deep Mountain High

A recent review of River Deep Mountain High, from SecEd, is available here.

River Deep Mountain High - from the chalkface

There is now a review of my novel, River Deep Mountain High, from the chalkface, available on the page dedicated to it.

You can buy the novel here.

Geoffrey Trease: A National Treasure

This link below is to an article first published in SecEd magazine on Geoffrey Trease. Also available link to Word document.

Elsewhere on the web...

Artscape, the national directory for arts in education, list my details. You can visit my page on their site here.

Writeaway.org.uk recently gave this site a mention. You can visit their site here.

Recent site updates:

Poem of the Month, August 2010

Workshops

A little delayed, December's Poem of the Month on YouTube

Workshops, November 2009 - A spread and teacher's notes on Persepolis and the experience of Iranian girls during the Revolution and war with Iraq, 1980-1986.

News, November 2009 - An article first published on the TES Cymru site in August.

Papers from Teaching the Holocaust (NATE conference, April 2009), on the Workshops page

'River Deep Mountain High' Review

The Lynn News has a review of my first novel, River Deep Mountain High, in its 11 March 2008 edition. You can read it here

More pictures of the new novel.

Gareth Calway

Bard On The Wire