A ‘Chicken’ hatches out: Neal Zetter introduces his latest – and ‘greatest’ - poetry collection!

Award-winning author/poet Neal Zetter drops in for a chat about about his 11th poetry collection with Troika, Chicken in the Kitchen, published on 1st September.

 What will readers find in your new poetry book?

“Chicken in the Kitchen is sub-titled Neal Zetter’s Greatest Hits as it’s a collection of the poems that children and teachers have most enjoyed and requested during my regular school visits. All of the poems featured - apart from two brand new, previously unpublished ones - are taken from my first 10 books with Troika.”

Why is the book called Chicken in the Kitchen? 

 “It’s taken from the name of a poem in the book. The poem first appeared in my 2019 collection, Gorilla Ballerina. It’s always been a popular poem and I thought it would lend itself to a wacky book title, as well as a fun cover illustration. Strangely, I and some of my other author friends have found that children frequently laugh when the word ‘chicken’ is mentioned - so I’m hoping that including the word on the cover will attract children to the book!”

 What can you tell us about the book’s illustrations?

“The illustrations were created by the talented Emily Ford, who also illustrated my 2021 collection, When the Bell Goes. Most of the images are full-page, so they’re extremely striking as well as very funny. I’m really delighted with them!”

How did you decide on the order of the poems in the book?

“Ordering poems is often a tricky part of a poet’s job, but in this case it was a breeze! The poems appear in order of publication, sub-divided into a chapter for each book and starting with my first Troika collection, 2017’s Bees in My Bananas, and ending with my most recent, 2022’s Scared? (co-written with my poetry pal, Joshua Seigal). The two new poems that I mentioned earlier follow at the end, to close the book.”

How would you describe the style of the poems?

“Well, while all of the poems can be read quietly to oneself, they’re all also very performable. Children can therefore enjoy reading them aloud in class or in a school assembly, where they can join their voices together on the repeated lines or ‘choruses’. Like much of my poetry (although certainly not all of it), these poems use rhythm, rhyme and plenty of crazy humour to engage their audience. For this reason, I find that a wide range of children, including those with special educational needs, tend to enjoy my work just as much as the committed book lovers.”

Where will you be ‘launching’ the book?

“I’ve been visiting schools almost every day for the past twenty years and the coming school year is already very busy for me, including a fully-booked September when I’ll be taking Chicken in the Kitchen into classrooms, performing poems from it, inspiring children to write through my poetry workshops and selling and signing the book after school. This will continue throughout the school year. So I guess it’s more of a journey than a launch!”

How can schools and libraries book you for an in-person or virtual visit and discover more about your work?

“Anyone can email me via my website cccpworkshops.co.uk. You can also see me in action on my YouTube channel and follow me on Facebook, X and BlueSky.”

Finally, what can we expect from you in the future?

“Since I’m constantly creating poetry, I’ve already written my next three collections - which I hope to get published over the next few years.  And, since my school visit diary for the 2025/2026 academic year is already half full, my days will, as ever, be very busy - and full of poetry!”

Any chance of a sneak preview?

Oh go on then - here’s the title poem…

Chicken in the Kitchen 

 There’s a chicken in the kitchen  
There’s a bat on my hat 
There’s a bee in my tea 
There’s a flea on the cat

 There’s a gibbon in the garage 
There’s a possum in the park 
There’s a crab in the lab 
There’s a moose marooned on Sark 

 There’s a frog on a log 
(With a hog and dog) 
There’s a rhino on the lino 
There’s a badger in a bog

 There’s a prawn on the lawn
There’s a caiman in a cake 
There’s a hamster in my hair 
There’s a lizard in the lake 

 There’s a turkey in the toilet 
There’s a heron in the hall
But where’s the dodo gone to 
‘Cause I can’t find him at all?  

Discover more about: Chicken in the Kitchen - poet/author Neal Zetter - illustrator Emily Ford.