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The Wordrobe 

 

A naked wardrobe lands in Nuneaton Library - and with the help of over 200 people of all ages - it was transformed into a Wordrobe  - a place where clothes have opinions, monster poems lurk, and ties are emotional.

 

The wordrobe home to poems  changed on a weekly basis, being decorated on the inside, back and sides, with art and poetry made by people in free workshops in the library.

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Hanger Dandy Doodles

Hangers were given the limelight in the Wordrobe . "A Kingdom for a Budgie" - was a hanger reimagined as a swing for a bird. Nearly everyone wanted to make their own poems rather than use ready-mades from books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clothes Lines

Clothes line poems were made by children and adults in response to the challenge of writing a Nuneaton Nunet:

"If clothes in the wardrobe could speak, what would they say?"

We appropriated the Nonet form (a triangular nine-line poem with a first line of nine syllables, the second of eight and so on, to the last line of one syllable), and it proved so popular we branched out into making clothes labels for these poems to attach to clothes for the Wordrobe.   

 

Tie-Curry

At the launch of the Wordrobe people showed their creations and read/recited their poems. The youngest performer, Alex aged five, took his poem out of a glittery container and read "In my magic box". There was a joint performance for the Tie-Curry poem (three children with giant chopsticks, an adult and a giant wok with ties), and several socks, jumpers, trousers, and laddered tights were among the clothes that found their voice in front of the Wordrobe stage.

Commissioned by Warwickshire Poetry Voices and Warwickshire Libraries. With thanks to all the library staff and the Men in Sheds.

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