The Corona Collection is a book of poems, distributed free to all Year 6 pupils in Enfield; a collection of digital resources to help children through the pandemic and afterwards; and a live poetry reading in front of Enfield Town library on 20th August; but, first and foremost, it's a 'con-verse-ation' between poet Cheryl Moskowitz and local children, parents and school staff.
The Corona Collection grew out of a concern for the mental health and wellbeing of children amid the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Driven by the urgency of the situation, Cheryl set out to create a new poetry collection drawn directly from children’s experiences. She set up (socially-distanced) pavement interviews with children, then went into primary and secondary schools to conduct interviews with children of key workers, their parents and school teachers, as well as site managers, administrators and cleaners.
The Corona Collection - the poetry reading
Cheryl Moskowitz will be reading from the collection on Enfield Library Green between 2pm and 2.30pm on Thursday 20th August as part of #EnjoyEnfieldSummer. More details.
The Corona Collection - the book
The book is published by Circle Time Press and Pop-Up Projects. More information.
To start the conversation Cheryl wrote a poem called Just supposing:
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Just supposing… you woke up tomorrow and there weren’t all these rules |
The poems in the book reflect the answers that Cheryl received to the questions posed by Just suppose, making the Corona Collection a record of this extraordinary, unprecedented experience viewed from the perspective of children.
In response to the book a Year 2 pupil wrote this:
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I have been locked down |
Links
Details of event on Enfield Library Green on 20 August 2020
Poems from the pandemic (Enfield Dispatch 4 August 2020)