Oh Big Blue poetry book launch is taking place on Monday June 9 at St John’s church, Bridgetown, Totnes, 6.30pm.

The collection features poems written and illustrated over the last year by Palestinian children and young people from Gaza and the West Bank and forms part of the work of The Hands Up Project, based in Totnes.

Hands Up uses poetry and play writing as a means for Palestinian children to learn English.

This work has been ongoing since October 2023, despite and in the midst of all that the Gazan civilian population has been experiencing.

The collection features a foreword from Peter and Alice Oswald who will be at the book launch:

“When you work with these students, it’s clear that there is nothing you can teach them about poetry.

They are already at ease in an ancient, complex tradition.” (Alice)

“Who could have known that poetry is not something you throw out as you run for your life, but something you hold onto, a home among the ruins?”

Join them at 6.30pm for tea, cake and snacks, followed by poems read from the collection by various voices from the local community and further afield.

There will also be art work on show.

Hands Up is a Totnes-based charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine.

By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and self-expression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills.

The Hands Up Project is committed to social justice, global citizenship, and freedom of expression, and upholds the belief that language learning is enhanced through creativity, performance and collaborative interaction.

To these ends, the project affords opportunities for children in difficult circumstances, such as Palestine, to use English to communicate with one another across borders in a “spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity.” UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989