ABSTRACT

I was honoured to give the Harold Rosen Memorial Lecture at NATE’s 2016 research symposium celebrating 50 years after Dartmouth. When preparing to give that keynote I revisited certain aspects of my English education between the ages of 5 and 18 years in the 1960s and 70s, and recalled some of the teachers in whose care my development as a literate, numerate and creative learner was entrusted in order to try to understand their significance for my development as a poet and poetry teacher. In focusing on this formative period, the following chapter explores the nature of language and personal growth (Dixon, 1967, p.1) which were central elements of the original month-long seminar held in 1966 at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA. It reflects on how poetry came to be such a key influence on my learning, teaching and writing and what lessons might be drawn from these experiences to inform future pedagogical practice or research in the field. In doing so, the chapter refers to previously published research on drafting, reading and performing poetry, poetic identity, poetry pedagogy and spoken word to consider how young people can find and keep poetry for themselves in ways that will continue to enrich them throughout their adult lives.