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The Kids by Hannah Lowe review: Poetry that sings from the page

This award winning collection explores then world of teaching in inner city London with empathy and insight.

The Kids by Hannah Lowe is out now (Bloodaxe, £10.99)

Hannah Lowe’s The Kids – whose Costa Poetry Award win will hopefully draw in a new set of readers – gleams with contemporary sonnets that sing on the page. The conversational poems centre around Lowe’s experience of teaching at a sixth form in London and reckon with the immeasurable impact of learning.

This wry collection ends with an emotional sequence about her child, Rory, who is growing up into the glorious world ahead. The vitality of these poems is tangible.

Lowe deftly unpacks the conflicts that arise in the classroom, in revelations that can be uncomfortable. Fictionalised homages about her pupils are acutely observed, tracing the vulnerability of being at school, whether as a student or teacher. In the book’s middle section, Lowe’s role is reversed when she reflects on her own painful experiences as a young person.

You can buy The Kids from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine. If you cannot reach local your vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

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