Lady Godiva at poetry workshop at Peace Garden in Memorial Park

The Lord Mayor’s Peace Committee arranged for Coventry’s poet laureate, Emilie Lauren Jones, to run poetry workshops in four Coventry schools. These were attended by over 100 pupils from 12 Coventry schools. Pupils focused on writing haikus inspired by the beauty of nature, reinforcing awareness of the need to protect our fragile planet from climate change. A haiku is a short poem that evokes images of the natural world.

On Sunday 23^rd April, pupils and their families came together in the Japanese Peace Garden in Coventry’s War Memorial Park for a performance of the pupils’ work. Emilie Lauren Jones supported the pupils as they shared their haikus.

They were joined by Taiko West who performed taiko drumming for families as they enjoyed picnics under the cherry blossom. Yuria Beppu, a Japanese teacher, ran origami workshops. The event was very well attended and there were many requests for it to be repeated next year.

We would like to thank Coventry citizen Joyce Jones who sponsored the poetry workshops for her generous donation to Coventry Lord Mayor’s Committee in order to promote the reading and writing of poetry for children, especially those about to make the transition from primary to secondary school.