Two exciting events with Stephen Lightbown at Bristol’s LYRA Poetry Festival

“Raw emotion, courage, determination and resilience,” said Sue Wiltshire in her review of what to expect in Stephen Lightbown’s “remarkable and fantastic” debut poetry collection for children.

And I Climbed And I Climbed charts the experiences of Cosmo, a young boy whose life is forever changed when he falls out of the tree he loves to climb. Now, Cosmo is disabled and uses a wheelchair. And now, Cosmo wants to have a conversation with the tree – which he does, through the poems in the book.

Stephen Lightbown draws on his own personal experiences as a wheelchair user, while creating a unique character in Cosmo. The result is a book that’s both beautifully engaging and utterly authentic, with magical illustrations by Shih-Yu Lin.

Come and watch / hear Stephen bring Cosmo to life as he performs poems from the book, or join in with a workshop to discover how you too can have a go at using letter-writing to explore your thoughts and feelings and create your own poems.

Stephen will also be available to chat and sign books.  We hope to see you there - scroll down for all the details!

Saturday 13th April, 2.30-4pm
Family Poetry Workshop | Letter Writing

In this poetry workshop, Stephen Lightbown will explore letter-writing as a technique to write poems as a way to try and understand things that may at first seem confusing or difficult to put into words.

Stephen says, “Together, we’ll explore a variety of techniques such as rhyme, repetition and writing to your future self to see how letters can create brilliant poems. I’ll show you how to use your own experiences to make sense of the world and to help other people to understand the challenges that you may be facing.”

To find out more and book your spot: https://www.lyrafest.com/#e105191

Sunday 14th April, 12-1pm
Family Stories & Poems | with Nikita Gill, Raymond Antrobus & Stephen Lightbown 

A brilliant poetry event for the whole family, with performers Nikita Gill, Raymond Antrobus and Stephen Lightbown reading some of their favourite stories and poems.

Nikita’s children’s books include Animal Tales from India, Raymond will read from his new picture book Terrible Horses(illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max) exploring sibling conflict and companionship, and Stephen will share poems from And I Climbed And I Climbed.

Together, the trio will bring you stories and poems to make you feel, think, laugh and smile, with a short Q&A and a book signing at the end. 

The event is aimed at 3-11 year olds (Key Stage 1 & 2), but open to the whole family. It will be BSL Interpreted.

To find out more and book your spot: https://www.lyrafest.com/#e105195.