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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU
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"I teach English and Drama and run performance poetry workshops in schools."
Paula came to Luton as a mature student, having already had a successful career as a chef. For her, the university was a recipe for a complete career change. She started out on an English Literature course, but, after her first year, was attracted to Luton’s new Creative Writing degree – one of the first of its kind in the UK.
Paula is now making great use of what she learned at Luton, teaching English and Drama in an upper school in Houghton Regis, and, as part of a partnership, producing poetry workshops for schools under the name of Word Chefs.
Paula and her fellow Word Chef Gavin Stewart have been visiting schools, working with children as young as four, some with special needs.
Paula said: “It’s great fun helping children create their own performance-based poetry. We gear each workshop to a specific theme, such as ‘The Sea’ or ‘Food’, and the children explore it in lots of different ways. At our first workshop – on Food – we even helped the children create an eight-foot cardboard pizza!”
Paula loves her teaching, too. She first made contact with the Houghton Regis school while on placement as part of her degree. Now she teaches English and Drama to pupils ranging from 13-16.
For the future, she’d like to extend the poetry workshops to older age groups – she’s especially interested in the challenge of writing poetry for teenage boys, and she’d like to have her work published. Meanwhile she’s having a great time helping children enjoy English and drama, and whetting their appetites for creating their own.
Interview took place in 2003.
Apply» Faculties & Departments» Bedfordshire Institute for Media, Arts & Performance» Student Profiles» Paula Taylorson: BA Hons Creative Writing
