THE CLEARING WITH KATHERINE MAY
Joseph Coelho’s art of pottering and rummaging
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Hello,
Step forward our first OBE on the show; former Children’s Laureate, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Writing, poet and prolific children’s author, Joseph Coelho.
Having both grown up on housing estates where you definitely weren’t pre-conditioned for a life in the creative arts, Joseph and I marvel at the way teachers can shape children’s futures, wonder at the power of brutalist public art and relish the joy of watching people rummage through abandoned homes in post-apocalyptic films.
A wonderful, and deeply thoughtful, conversation with one of the UK’s most inspiring literary figures.
Links from the episode:
Joseph’s website https://www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com/
Joseph’s Instagram
Munya Chawawa’s Black Boys Theatre Club
Joseph’s estate he grew up on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Estate
Lynn Chadwick’s The Watchers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watchers_(sculpture)
The Watchers, by Lynn Chadwick. Shown here in San Diego in 2004 (Shutterstock)
Production Credits
Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins
Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong
Producer - Alice Lloyd
Music - The Leaf Library theleaflibrary
Click here to listen in your favourite app, or paid subscribers can listen to an ad-free version here in this post.
Transcript:
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