- Have you always been interested in writing poetry? Actually, no! I've always loved to write, but my first love has always been writing fantasy stories for young children. I wrote poetry at school, of course, and every so often when I was on holiday, but it wasn't a regular thing.
- So, what prompted you to write your first book “It's a Teacher's Life...!” Well, I've been a teacher for 20 years and about three years ago, when I was having a lovely holiday at a beautiful place in the country, I was inspired to write some poetry, and when I came home, I then had the idea to write some more poems about my life as a teacher. Each poem would concentrate on a different aspect of school life, such as the lessons, what went on in the staffroom, school trips, exams, report writing, and so on. I also wanted to pay tribute to some of the support staff who do so much to keep a school running, but are often forgotten about e.g. the cook, the caretaker/janitor, the nurse, the school secretary – the unsung heroes of life is what I call them.
- Do you have a favourite poem? No, I can't say I've got a favourite. Each one is written from the heart and it's impossible for me to single one out in particular.
- What prompted you to write your book “Family and More – Enemies or Friends?” I had the idea one day whilst driving to work. I was just thinking about my family and other people in my life who've had a big influence on me, one way or the other, and suddenly the idea popped into my head that I could write a second collection of poems about them and the lessons I've learnt from them.
- Why is it called “Enemies or Friends?” That's got a lot to do with the fact that my mother is German and my father was English, and I just couldn't get my head round the fact that, had I been born a few years earlier, all my German relatives would have been my 'enemies'. To me they could never have been 'enemies', just 'family'. It got me thinking about how futile it is to talk about so-called national divisions.
- What did you find the hardest about writing your book(s)? Finding the time to finish them and then the editing, the endless checking and re-reading – it drove me crazy!
- What was the easiest part? Just writing the poems – I was totally absorbed by the process and really enjoyed it.
- How do you describe your style of poetry? Easy-to-read, easily accessible free verse. I want people to be able to read and understand what I'm writing about from the word go. I don't like things to be hidden in obscurity. I write simply as I'm inspired to write. The poems I've had published in my two collections are really stories and character sketches that just happen to be in verse. One of the reviews on Amazon talks about me developing a new form of poetry, called the 'anecdotal poem', and I think that describes my style of poetry very well.
- What's the attraction of writing poetry as opposed to writing children's stories? When I write poetry, I can concentrate on the rhythm and sound of the words and use vocabulary I wouldn't be able to use in my children's stories. It's a marvellous linguistic challenge - the sound of words has always been something that's fascinated me. It's one of the reasons I studied modern languages. When I write my children's stories, it's more about escaping into a wonderful world of fantasy, leaving the mundane 'real' world behind – I find it wonderfully exciting and liberating.
- When you're not writing, what are you doing? Tutoring, translating, reading, walking, playing tennis or dancing, doing Pilates, spending time with my niece and nephew.
- What are your future writing goals? The illustrations for my first children's picture book are being done at the moment and my aim is to have the book published before the end of the year.
'It's a Teacher's Life...! A Collection of Poems Set in a Girls' Private School' and summary of contents
No doubt you remember your life at school as a pupil - the long lessons, stringent rules and chaotic classrooms - but what was it like from the teacher's perspective? Did they savour the experience of setting and marking our homework? Did they get a kick out of writing our reports? And, most intriguingly, what did they get up to in the staffroom?
If you've never been there yourself, you need to follow Helena Harper into this alternative world of coffee addiction, frantic marking, lesson-planning and inspections. She answers all of your questions and more, and her insightful, evocative and often sardonic descriptions leave you more appreciative of the trials and tribulations (and the occasional pleasures) of being the dragon in front of the whiteboard.
It's a Teacher's Life...! will open the eyes of the pupils who always thought that teachers didn't exist outside of school hours... On the other hand, with such a long roll-call of meetings, assessments and after-hours activities, perhaps they were right all along!
Content
The School Ethos — gently does it: kid gloves needed!
The Workplace — old and new: in harmony or at odds?
The New School Year — meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings! Brains creaking, creaking, creaking, creaking!
The Staffroom — a blessed haven, a refuge from all this teaching insanity!
The Lessons — rush, rush, rush! Sigh, sigh, sigh!
The Workroom — moaning, groaning, gossiping...moaning, groaning, gossiping...moaning, groaning, gossiping...
The Duties — brightening every teacher’s day
The Prize Giving — examination success applauded, independent thought neglected
The Carol Service — angelic voices and appearance: would it could always be like this!
The Trips — definitely, definitely, definitely not a good idea! Infamous risk assessments hanging like lead around the neck...eating and drinking, blinking and breathing must go in...hang it all, where’s the bin?
The Open Afternoon — uniformed angels painting the school in such a beautifully perfect light!
The German Teacher — hawk-like eyes, bubbling laughter, prejudice and French her common foes!
Matron — a cup of tea, a kind word, a listening ear: all provided with TLC
The Cook — Joy, her name, and joy her very nature (an unsung hero of everyday life)
The Caretaker — Emilio from Spain in the land of rain, glorious rain
Amy, the Able — Queen of Resources, organised, efficient, expert and skilful (another unsung hero)
The Inspection — smoking-hot photocopiers, senior managers and HODs on their knees...
The Exams — eyelids growing heavy with hours of sleep denied...
The Reports — the once a year chore, delight bursting forth in every breast at the joy of the long nights in store...
The End-of-Year Bash — bleary eyes shaking off tiredness for one last evening of merriment true
REVIEWS FOR “IT'S A TEACHER'S LIFE...!” from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk (reviews by Top Reviewers are first, then come reviews by ordinary readers)
A Work With Feeling. By Don Blankenship, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer
5 stars
Free verse has become a universal mode for expressing thoughts, feelings, reality and unreality for many. Some writers write very bad verse (I find myself in this category), while others have mastered its form and are able to use it as a sharp tool, a soft pillow for pleasing landings and most importantly, sharing the many little pieces of their world with others. Helena Harper is quite obviously one of those with the skill and the feelings to accomplish the last mentioned.
"It's A Teacher's Life" is a small volume of free verse telling her story; her experiences and her thoughts during the time she taught at an all girls school in England. Now I judge poetry, in any form, by a few simple standards. First, is the author conveying her or his true feelings about and for the subject being addressed? Secondly, does the subject touch me; can I relate to what the author is trying to tell me. Thirdly, does the author use metaphors and similes that are realistic? As an example, if the author suddenly tries to compare a walking stick to some dead Etruscan God that no one but one extremely familiar with Etruscans and walking sticks could possible relate to, much less understand, then it is a useless attempt at communication. (Walking sticks possibly; Etruscan Gods, well that is rather problematic for most of us). The obscure becomes irrelevant, the more obscure; the more irrelevant and the fewer there are to enjoy and appreciate the author's work.
Fortunately for me, and for all of us, Ms Harper has fulfilled each of my requirements and given us an understandable work that most of us can perfectly relate to, even if all of us are not in the teaching profession. I have to admit that without exception I enjoyed each of the twenty offerings in this wonderful little book. As I read each piece, I could actually feel the happiness, frustrations, and indeed a twinge of anger and sadness here and there. Her obvious love for the children comes through, as well as her rather sardonic, caustic and realistic view of many of them, and her complete confusion and non-acceptance of many of the modern "things" that fill our lives is also shown. Her impatience with the mundane meetings, parents that to a certain extent make life difficult for both teacher and child, and the endless institutional requirements is quite apparent. Readers should not expect that each and every image presented here is a "happy' little glimpse into the life of a teacher, there are very realistic and rather whimsical "down" moments.
"The teachers feed off the food
and the words of thanks
that fall occasionally from
pupils' and parents' lips.
These scraps of appreciation
satisfying momentarily
While thoughts of doing
something worthwhile
surface - though just temporarily -
until fatigue overwhelms
and drives the teachers home...
The meager morsels of gratitude
becoming rarer each year,
yet somehow teachers survive
on this diet of starvation
for year after year..."
Read these lines well. While we find here the words of a very dedicated individual, we also pick up just a bit of justifiable bitterness. Again, these words touched me, they communicated and I could relate; I could feel. On the other hand, there are many light moments expressed in this work to which I could also relate. That is one of the strong aspects of this collection as a whole; we get a taste of both the up and of the down. I must warn you though; due to the small size of the little volume and the author's propensity to use, at first glance, to use simple and easly understood language, a reader may be tempted to rip through this one. That is a big mistake as there is much more here than meets the eye!
This is a wonderful collection of poems that were written from the heart. This work would be an absolute wonderful gift for any teacher in your life; it would be a wonderful gift and read for anyone wishing to understand not only teachers, but all people who dedicate their lives to service.
Love this small glimpse into a remarkable woman's life, and I do hope more is to follow.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
A Teacher's Life in Poetry. By Robin Friedman, Amazon Top 50 Reviewer
4 stars
"It's a Teacher's Life!" is a short, elegant and whimsical collection that explores in poetry a year in the life of a teacher at a private school for girls in England. The language and experiences are British indeed, but the author's feelings, frustrations, and hopes touch on the universal. The author, Helena Harper, worked for two years in banking before deciding to become a teacher. The reader learns Harper's thoughts about her chosen profession through poetry.
The little book consists of twenty poems and eighty pages together with several small sketches which illustrate the themes of the poetry. The sketches add much to the book. The collection begins with a poem called "The School Ethos" in which Harper gently satirizes "the caring environment" free of discipline or criticism which her school tries to offer its charges. The book then proceeds from the beginning of the school year to the end. It concludes with a poem titled "The End-of-Year-Bash" which describes the speeches, recognition and refreshment that celebrate the end of the year of hard work in teaching and learning. At the end of the celebration, Harper reflects, as she does frequently in the book, on the passage of the year and its meaning. She concludes "It's just a divine mirage/ enticing us to play/ in this amazing, incredible human fray!"
The book describes the teacher's life in the classroom and out in the endless cycle of preparing and giving lessons, performing collateral duties at the school, attending trips and programs, and trying to please administrators, parents and overseers. Harper offers good character sketches of many people in the school, including the Head of Music, Mr. Cress, the German teacher, the long-suffering matron who selflessly eases both students and staff through a multitude of aches and pains, the cook, Joy, who is a favorite of the author, the caretaker, Emilio, who leaves the school after 30 years of service to return to his native Spain, and "Amy, the Able", the office administrator whose name speaks for itself.
For all the whimsy and lightness, Harper is at her best in her reflections of her role as a teacher and its significance. An example is the concluding passage from the "End-of-Year-Bash" quoted above. In a poem called "The Workroom" Harper describes the chore of lesson preparation with her colleagues. The poem concludes with an almost mystical passage of the unity of purpose that binds those in academic life:
"Unrelated they may be,
but an invisible strand,
like the air each breathes,
ties them together
and makes them as one -
no longer separate beings
but different aspects of
an indefinable whole -
a close, invisible
community of the soul."
In a poem called "The Lesson" describing the difficulty of classroom teaching, Harper again concludes with a meditative passage:
"that's the reward
for hours and hours of work
and patience,
a reward of infinite measure,
a priceless, unlimited treasure."
As a final example, at the conclusion of a poem called "The Exam", the students complete their work, the docents receive the exam books, and Harper reflects on the process:
"The teachers follow,
and silence reigns once more,
broken only by
the great illusion of time,
ticking indefatigably
in the phantom human mime."
In a short, light way, Harper's book explores the frustrations of the teacher's life. Through the short-term difficulty and travail, she captures something of its significance as well. This is a delightful little book.
Robin Friedman
Available in paperback from all major online retailers. Not stocked in bookstores, but can be ordered from any bookstore.
http://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Collection-Poems-Private-School/dp/1847481825/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-Teachers-Life-Collection-Private/dp/1847481825/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230149878&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.ca/Teachers-Collection-Poems-Private-School/dp/1847481825/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239391752&sr=8-2
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Its-a-Teachers-Life-a-Collection-of-Poems-Set-in-a-Girls-Private-School/Helena-Harper/e/9781847481825/?itm=1
http://www.google.com/products?q=1847481825
For more updates, info, and wowsers, find Helen Harper busy at these links:
author's website: http://www.helenaharper.com
authorsden website: http://www.authorsden.com/helenaharper
blog: http://helenaharpersblog.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/helenaharper
