Coral Rumble Award Winning Poet Caterpillar Poetry Prize Author Poetry Workshops Inset Training
Here's the formal bit for teachers to read.
Coral Rumble is a popular, award winning poet; in 2018 she won The Caterpillar Poetry Prize. She has worked as a poet and performer for many years, and now specializes in writing and performing for children. She was featured in ‘Favourite Poets’ published by Hodder Children’s Books. Michael Rosen has commented, “Rumble has a dash and delight about her work”.
Coral has had five collections published – ‘Creatures, Teachers and Family Features’, ‘Breaking the Rules’, ‘My Teacher’s as Wild as a Bison’, ‘Riding a Lion’ and 'Things That Should Be in a Poem'. Her collections have been featured in the ‘Best Books’ supplement of Junior Education Magazine, and selected as ‘choices’ by The Children’s Poetry Bookshelf. 'Riding a Lion' (illustrated by Emily Ford) was shortlisted for the North Somerset Teachers Award 2021, 'Things That Should Be in a Poem' (illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin) won the Spark! School Book Awards 2023.
She has contributed to nearly 200 anthologies for children. You will find her work in various education trade books and, being a football fan, she is very proud that one of her poems was included in a poetry exhibition at the National Football Museum in Preston! In the past she has contributed to the National Poetry Day resources for schools, produced by the Poetry Society, and works with the Poetry Society on other ventures, like the Trafalgar Square tree project, ‘Look North More Often’. Coral is Poetry Editor for the Writers’ Advice Centre in London.
In addition, Coral has delivered inset training for teachers, both independently, and on behalf of the Poetry Society and British Council, here and abroad, and works regularly on education projects. She enjoys helping children of all ages and abilities, to write poems they can be proud of, and works on the Able Writers scheme, organised by poet Brian Moses and Authors Abroad.
Coral performs and gives workshops at art centres, museums, bookshops, libraries, theatres and festivals, as well as in schools, in the UK and abroad. She has given workshops in some unusual places, too, the grandest venue being Buckingham Palace!
Coral contributed many poems to the popular Cbeebies TV programmes, ‘Poetry Pie’ and ‘The Rhyme Rocket’. She is also the writer of the ‘Pinkasaurus’ stories, that have been broadcast on Cbeebies Radio. More recently, Coral teamed up with her illustrator daughter, Charlotte Cooke. Their picture book, ‘The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat’, was longlisted for the ‘Oscars Book Prize’ award.
Their latest book together, 'Mustafa's Jumper', was published in 2019 (Wacky Bee Books). It is a story based on the award-winning poem, and gently explores the precarious position of seeking asylum.
Coral's debut novel, 'Jakub's Otter' is scheduled to be published beginning of 2024 (Troika Books).
If you want to find out what Coral is up to, follow her on Twitter by clicking the icon above.