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https://www.positive.news/lifestyle/arts/childrens-laureate-alex-wharton-on-the-power-of-language-rhythm-and-reading/>
"Growing up in the small post-industrial mining town of Pontypool in south
Wales, Alex Wharton was transported to other worlds. As a child he would absorb
technicolour comics and lose himself in thick general knowledge books, studying
maps and exploring global cultures. As a teen, he became a rap afcionado,
obsessively studying the lyrics of Outkast, Lauryn Hill and Talib Kweli.
“That was my self-directed method of finding language I enjoyed,” he says. “I
usually say I didn’t start reading poetry until I was an adult. But, looking
back to those lyrics, I very much was doing so as a teenager.”
Wharton is currently the Children’s Laureate for Wales and takes his poetry to
libraries, school classrooms and events all over the UK. So, it makes perfect
sense that the foundations for his arresting, engaging and entertaining stories
for kids and adults – spanning everything from tales of kingfishers to jelly
beans – lie in the combination of words and rhythm he heard on those formative
CDs."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
