Poetry and Prose Writing Challenge for Great Big Green Week Shaftesbury
Looking after the Planet - For All Age Groups
Humanity is at a crossroads in how we address the Climate Emergency and Loss of Biodiversity faced by the Planet. This is the world young people will be inheriting, so what would you like to say about these concerns and what might you be able to do to help look after the Planet? Great Big Green Week Shaftesbury is running an online Poetry and Prose Writing Challenge until the end of the 18th June 2023, and you are invited to write a poem, short story or other piece of writing to express your thoughts and feelings about those concerns. There are three age group categories for entry: up to 12 years, 13 – 17 year olds, and over 18s including an invitation for older people to reflect on the changes in the climate and the natural world witnessed and experienced during their lifetimes and under the idea of When I was a Child.
Your work can be displayed on the Great Big Green Week Shaftesbury website (https://www.GreatBigGreenWeekShaftesbury.org) and you may enter as many items as you like; if you are writing a prose piece, please limit it to 600 words per piece. You may wish to record your pieces in an audio version and attach this to your submission. Send everything to (chris@GreatBigGreenWeekShaftesbury.org.) by the end of Sunday 18th June 2023.
Numerous events are being hosted by Great Big Green Week Shaftesbury throughout the week: these raise awareness of the many alarms being identified by Climate Change and the threat to all forms of life on Earth, but they also celebrate the many aspects of the natural world which provide wonder, awe and beauty as well as what we need for our survival. Please visit as many of these as you can, reflect on what you already know about and you may see with new eyes more about how they are all connected. Use these opportunities to fire your imagination for your writing.
Amongst these other events is a morning devoted to the Poetry and Prose Writing Challenge in the Garden Room of the Gold Hill Museum in Shaftesbury which takes place on Saturday 17th June 2023 from 1030 am – 12.30 pm. Here you might like to meet with other writers and would-be writers and poets to exchange ideas, share what you may already have written, and glean more inspiration from additional information amongst the displays of material in the room. There is access to the museum garden itself but also further afield on to Park Walk, down Stony Path or Pine Walk, or across to Castle Hill Green off Bimport. This event provides the opportunity for you to gather together your reflections on the week's events, what might have been new to you and where you will have met others who care as much as you do about the challenges which confront humanity. If you wish to have your work displayed in the People's Exhibition in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall in Shaftesbury as well as on the Great Big Green Week Shaftesbury website, please print your details (name, address and age group) on the back of your work and it will be returned to you after the event.
At all these events, you might find others happy to join you in future activities which raise awareness and carry on the work of the many people in the town who are already involved in a variety of exciting environmental projects. See the Planet Shaftesbury website for more on these.
Below are some suggestions and writing tips if you need some ideas to get you going. The first two pages are for children up to 12 years old; the following two pages, with additional ideas, are for 13 – 17 years and older, including anyone who would like to write about their experiences of the climate and natural world as children.
13 – 17 year olds and over 18s, and anyone wishing to write about their memories as "When I was a Child"
Choosing your Title and Theme
Because of climate change and human activity, the Earth has already begun to undergo major threats to life for all species and not just humans.
1) consider from the following list of topics what the consequences of this are and how they all relate to one another, or choose a particular subject you would like to write about:
extreme weather, polluted oceans and rivers, drought and forest fires, soil erosion and desertification, melting icecaps, floods, loss of habitat and animal extinction, food scarcity and famine, mass migration and climate refugees, instability and war, toxic emissions and disease, "Insect Apocalypse", "Silent Spring", survival challenges and/or any other topic you believe to be relevant
2) you might prefer to write about the opposite, what a 'perfect world' and way of life for all life forms might look like, and what humanity needs to do to achieve this.
Choosing your Viewpoint
How you express your thoughts and feelings doesn't have to be in your own voice, "I"; there are many 'voices' you can use, for example, that of an endangered animal or bird, a river, the ocean, a tree, a climate refugee, a fossil fuel executive, a campaigner or the Earth itself speaking to you; or what might you want to say to them directly yourself?
Other suggested writing formats
Imagine you are floating in space and looking at planet Earth spinning among the many stars and other planets in the galaxy. This is your home, what does it mean to you and what does it provide for your survival? What do you love most about your home and how would you feel if you lost it?
Write a Charter for the Protection of the Planet, for Trees or other Wildlife
Write a modern fairy story or fable (Allegory) about the dangers facing the Planet
Write a Letter to someone about your concerns, for example, anyone with powers or influence to make a difference (for example, a political leader, a celebrity, a boss of industry, a campaigner) – or – write a Dialogue between yourself and this person
Write a message/story in Verse or a Poem (see the list below for some poetic devices)
What do you remember about how things were when you were a child?
Some Poetry and other Writing Techniques
1. Poems do not have to rhyme or have a rhythm but these features are often used to place emphasis, create mood and atmosphere and to get your points across more effectively
2. Poems can be displayed on the page in different shapes, for example a heart shape, butterfly, rainbow, an animal or tree, a circular shape to represent the sphere of the Earth, and many others which illustrate the theme you have chosen to write about
3. Think about how your vocabulary can bring your topic or theme more alive with colour, sound, shape, scent, taste or texture. Some poetic devices here include alliteration as in
the fury of the flood; fierce, forest fire; stifling smoke; the misery of mass migration; climate apocalypse; drought and desertification; the waging of war
Or onomatopoeia as in
the shattering of hope; the clamouring of climate deniers; the crash of a glacier; the squealing of a trapped animal; the throb of an engine; the drone of a missile
Or repetition of words or phrases as in
Every sunrise promises a new beginning
Every day provides a new opportunity
Every moment is an occasion to try something new
Or personification as in
the Planet is crying out for our help; the land is thirsty and the trees are begging for water; toxic emissions are choking the atmosphere; the roar of a violent storm
Or similes and metaphors as in
The vast fissure in the parched earth was like a scar across the landscape (simile)
The broken limbs of the shrivelled tree dropped on to the baked land (metaphors)
4. If stuck for where to start, try using the following starter phrases or lines and incorporating them into your piece; these might work well with repetition, rhyme and rhythm:
it's not too late I won't do … but I can do…
what choices face humanity? the part I can play is …
how did we get here? my hopes for the future are …
every day I can … I say no to … and I say yes to … for example:
I say no to cutting down more trees to build a new road
I say yes to leaving the road verges for wildflowers to feed pollinating insects
5. Try writing a Haiku, a 17 syllable Japanese poem which originally needed to be about Nature and have a resolution at the end; for example:
Heart breaks with sorrow
Sunlit dawn
Birds on the wing
Whole again, Earth smiles
Or a Limerick: There once was a planet in the universe
Whose suffering was caused by a curse
The curse was humanity
Whose actions were insanity
The lesson to learn is responsibility
Young people up to 12 Years
What would you like to say about what is happening to the Planet? Have you noticed how hot our Summers have become but also how much rain we have been having? Our last Winter was also really cold for weeks. These occurrences are being described as extreme weather events and they are happening all over the world. They are caused by Climate Change.
Choosing your Topic
Because of climate change and human activity, the Earth has already begun to undergo major threats to wildlife, including us. Here are some things you might like to write about:
-why are Insects important and why are we seeing so few Butterflies?
-what happens when there is no Rain for weeks or too much rain?
-why is the melting of Glaciers and the Icecaps in the Arctic a problem?
-why do we see so few Hedgehogs? What other Animals do you see less of now?
-why are Trees and Wildflowers so important for life on Earth?
-what is the problem with Plastic and why are our Rivers and the Sea so dirty?
-how could our Roads be safer and our Gardens more Wildlife Friendly?
You might prefer to write about the opposite, what a 'Perfect World' and way of life for all life might look like, and what we need to do to achieve this.
Different Ways of Writing
You can write your poem or story for the Planet, to an endangered animal, bird, insect or tree and tell them how you feel and what you could do about the problems they are facing – or – pretend to be any of these and describe how you feel about what is happening to you.
You could write a 'Charter' for the Protection of the Planet, for Trees or other Wildlife as a promise of what you will do to help when you grow up.
Write a Letter to someone about the things you are bothered about, for example, to someone you think can do something about the problems the Planet is having now.
Imagine you are floating in space and looking at Planet Earth spinning among the many stars and other planets in the galaxy. This is your home, what does it mean to you and what does it provide for your survival? What do you love most about your home and how would you feel if you lost it?
You can add drawings to your poems or stories. Have a go and enjoy your writing!
See more ideas on how to do this here:
Some Poetry and other Writing Tips
1. Poems do not have to rhyme or have a rhythm but these can create mood and atmosphere
2. Poems can be displayed on the page in different shapes, for example a heart shape, a tree, butterfly, rainbow or animal, a balloon, a star or the circular shape to represent the sphere of the Earth, and many others which describe what you are writing about
3. Think about what can make your message vivid and come alive; think about colourful words, sounds, smells, tastes or what things feel like. Some clever ways of writing include sounding the same letters at the start of the word (this is called "alliteration") as in
the fury of the flood; fierce, forest fire; clammy, cold, crunchy snow; the whispering wind; the raging river in full flood; busy, buzzing bees; sparkling shimmering sunshine
or whole words (this is called "onomatopoeia")
the crash of a glacier; the bang and boom of the thunder; the crackling of the fire; the squealing of a trapped animal; the throb of an engine; the hiss of a snake
Or repetition of words or phrases as in
Every sunrise promises a new beginning
Every day provides a new start
Every moment we can try something new
Or "personification" as in
the Planet is crying out for our help; the land is thirsty and the trees are begging for water; poisonous air is choking the atmosphere; the merciless sun; the angry sea
Or "similes" and "metaphors" as in
The huge crack in the parched earth was like a scar across the landscape (simile)
The broken limbs of the shrivelled tree dropped on to the baked land (metaphors)
Other feeling and atmospheric words, for example for what you love:
wonder, magic, marvel, dazzling, awesome, splendour, sparkling, brilliant
4. If stuck for where to start, try using the following starter lines and putting them into your
piece; these might work well with repetition, rhyme and rhythm:
It's not too late to … I won't do … but I can do…
What choices face us? The part I can play is …
How did we get here? My hopes for the future are …
Every day I can … I say no to … and I say yes to … for example:
I say no to cutting down more trees to build a new road
I say yes to leaving the road verges for wildflowers to feed pollinating insects
5. A fun way of writing a poem is the "acrostic". This is where the first letter of the first word
of every line spells out the name of your poem as in BLUE TITS:
Building their nests in secret,
Little Blue Tits throng,
Under and over the branches
Erupting in merry song.
Trilling happily at their task,
In and out they go,
To build the smartest home
Safe for their chicks to grow.
Happy Writing!