Show Notes
Dzifa Benson speaks to Clementine E. Burnley and Zakia Carpenter-Hall.
Clementine E. Burnley and Zakia Carpenter-Hall are both alumni of the Obsidian Foundation writing retreat. Their poems were published in The Poetry Review, Winter 2021.
The Obsidian Foundation is a writing retreat, a week-long retreat of selected Black poets of African descent. The Obsidian Foundation's goal is to create a community of Black creative diversity where poets are fully self-expressed free from racism. Discover more on their website: obsidianfoundation.co.uk
Clementine E. Burnley and Zakia Carpenter-Hall discuss their experience on the Obsidian Foundation writing retreat, what it means to write in vernacular and how poetry can speak on behalf of a community. They read their poems: 'How To Eat Frogs' (Clementine E. Burnley), 'The Gold Price' (Zakia Carpenter-Hall), 'She Found God In Herself and She Loved Her Fiercely' (Zakia Carpenter-Hall) and 'A Swiss Lace Front Wig' (Clementine E. Burnley).
More from The Poetry Society
Each year for our Look North More Often project, The Poetry Society commissions a new children’s poem celebrating the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, which is a gift from the city of Oslo to London, as a thank you for helping the King of Norway in World War 2. This year, Coral Rumble wrote a wonderful new poem is called ‘Glow’, which is on display around the base of the tree in Trafalgar Square over the 2025 festive period. The poem was premiered at the lighting up ceremony of the tree in front of the mayors of Oslo, London and Westminster, plus thousands of spectators, by three children from a local primary school, Burdett Coutts & Townshend Primary School. Their names are Nuraa, Nirvaan and Andrew and in this podcast, you’ll get to hear them read the poem, as well as talk about their experience discovering, writing and performing poetry. You can also find a plethora of free festive KS2 teaching resources and poems on The Poetry Society website at bit.ly/lnmo. Happy holidays from everyone at The Poetry Society!