Making Poetry Happen: Transforming the Poetry Classroom

Sue Dymoke (1962-2023) led the PhD programme at the Institute of Education at Nottingham Trent University, UK. She was editor (with Anthony Wilson, Andrew Lambirth, and Myra Barrs) of Making Poetry Happen (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Making Poetry Matter (Bloomsbury, 2015) and was author of Drafting and Assessing Poetry: a guide for teachers (2003) and Teaching English Texts 11-18 (Bloomsbury, 2009). She was the author of four collections of poems, the last of which was What To Do Next (2023). She was external evaluator for the Paul Hamlyn First Story Student Ambassadors scheme, a member of NAWE Higher Education committee and Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature wider board. As a poet, educator and academic, her impact on poetry teaching was internationally recognised.

Myra Barrs is a Visiting Professor at the University of East London, UK, and was, until recently, Co-Director of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE).

Andrew Lambirth is a writer, critic and curator. An art critic for The Spectator, he has written for a wide range of publications, including The Sunday Times and The Independent, and from 1990 to 2002 he was contributing editor of RA, the Royal Academy of Arts magazine. He is the author of numerous art books, including Ken Kiff (2001), LS Lowry: Conversation Pieces (2003), Kitaj (2004), Roger Hilton: The Figured Language of Thought (2007) and Nigel Hall: Sculpture and Works on Paper (2008). He is the Professor of Education at the University of Greenwich, UK.

Anthony Wilson is a poet, writing tutor and Senior Lecturer in Primary English at the University of Exeter, UK, where he works in teacher and medical education. He has published six collections of poetry, the most recent of which is The Wind and the Rain (Blue Diode Press, 2023). His new pamphlet of poems, Plymbridge, published in 2026. Alongside his books with Sue Dymoke, he has edited Creativity in Primary Education (2015) and co-edited The Poetry Book for Primary Schools (1998). He has tutored for Arvon, the Poetry School and the Poetry Business. He blogs at anthonywilsonpoetry.com.