Scoop

In June 1877, a strange thing happened to an out-of-work Irish weaver living in Scotland. To quote his own words: I seemed to feel as it were a strange kindof feeling stealing over me, and remainedso for about five minutes. A flame, as LordByron has

Is verse that’s terseWith rhyming wordsLike birds and herdsLike curds and girdsAnd surds and thirdsKeep words goingAnd lines flowingTill the rhymes you seekBecome quite weakThen change the rhyme,They’ll cease to chimeAnd that is whenYou switch again.

Haiku are only three lines long. Here is an example of a poem by the grand master of haiku, Masaoka Shiki, who died in 1902: At the full moon’srising, the silver-plumedreeds tremble Here is another one: Autumn is leaving,tugging each others’ bra

The first time I heard whales ‘singing’ was surreal. I was underwater, filming on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and for a few minutes I had nothing to do while the cameraman was filming close ups of a new underwater computer. So, I rested on t

Amina loved drumming. When she was a baby, she used to sit in her high chair and bash on the tray with her plastic spoon. When she was a little girl, she would drum on the table with her fingers with one hand, while eating with the other. When her le

In June 1911, Britain welcomed a new king to the throne. Five days before the grand coronation of King George V, another impressive spectacle took place in London: a peaceful ‘Coronation Procession’ of around 60,000 women demanding suffrage (the righ

What does a marketing manager do? That depends on what project I’m working on, as it changes all the time. Basically my job is to make sure an artist’s music reaches the fans in interesting ways. To do this well, I need to get to know an artist, and

I saw sounds at night,altering the shapes of the trees, tickling shadows,dancing on an owl’s tongue, I saw sounds skippingfrom door to door, rattling the letterbox,slipping into dreams, I saw a gentle drumbeat,chase a prancing fox, amongst

in under twenty seconds – or your money back! Just follow these seven simple steps to air guitar heaven: 1. MAKE SURE YOUR AIR GUITAR IS IN TUNE Pretend to fiddle with the imaginary tuning pegs and make some strange tuning sounds with your mouth. 2

GEORGE THE POET is the stage name of George Mpanga. From London, of Ugandan heritage, he is a poet, rapper, spoken word performer and host of his own podcast. He uses his poetry to talk about issues in society, and he has a satirical wit and an infec

Aubergines fashioned into cymbals? Carrots carved up as flutes? Pumpkins posing as drums? Who said you can’t play with your food? Or, in this case, play your food? Certainly not the Vegetable Orchestra from Vienna! For about half a day before each pe

The lights dim on the stage in Klub Progresja in Warsaw, Poland. The crowd cheers, whoops and whistles as Scott Jackson, official host of the Grand Beatbox Battle, walks on stage and holds up a hand for silence. He raises the microphone to his lips a

Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Kayo and I’m ten years old. And on my eighth birthday I got surgery! It wasn’t good, I stayed in the hospital for two and a half days! Where do you live? What’s the name of your town/village/city and coun

Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Sama and I am nine years old. Sama means sky in Arabic. Where do you live? I have been living in Spain for four years now. We live in Madrid, the capital city. What is your family like? My father, Ahme

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?  Hello, my name is Jake and I am eleven years old. I live in Devon, on a smallholding with a lot of animals. My interests are: photography, magic, books, nature, outdoors, Lego and cheese. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK

There are things that lurk in the library,that thumb and squeeze between the leaves.New worlds can be found in the books,characters listen to all that you read.There are whisperings between the wordsand shivers rearing to leap on your spine. Run your

If you are lucky, and you are out in the woods at the right time, you might just be able to hear the song of the nightingale. A gentle and enchanting trill that wafts through the trees on a summer’s night, it is birdsong so sweet it has inspired poet