Feedback from pupils, participants and parents

"I learned that words are really powerful tools" 

"I didn't know poetry included rap!"

 "I feel I've found a voice"

"I really liked the workshop it was EPIC!!"  

"We're staying in at playtime to write more!"  

"I thought poetry was about boring stuff, but its really fun!"

"Come back tomorrow please!!!"

 

"We made raps with Kurly and I liked it. He taught us how to play and rhyme with words which we practiced and recorded. We didn't use bad language in our raps we found better words to use instead!"  -  year 6 pupil

 

"Thank you for coming in and helping us to write our poems. Thank you for letting us have fun and thank you very much for coming in! I'm not to going to stop writing poems now!"  - Year 8 pupil

 

"Thank you for coming to our school and showing us how to rap. I learnt what R.A.P means and you helped us to increase our vocabulary and rhyming skills. It helped me write my rap and I liked performing on the mic. Thank you it was sick!!" - Year 9 pupil

 

Thank you so much for introducing Kyle to the magic of poetry. Before you said 'hello' he hated poetry. Yet after working with you for 15 minutes he loves it! He's been driving us mad all afternoon rapping "Im a poet and you don't know it" so thanks fro that!! We've typed up his first rap, which he is very proud of and happy to share it with you and others. Thank you again." John and Lisa Jinks (Wellington Literary Festival).  

 

Feedback from schools and other organisations

"I was very surprised and very happy to see one particular boy respond so well to Kurly's 1 hour workshop and produced a beautiful heartfelt poem. He doesn't usually engage with performance tasks and is often uncomfortable when asked to share his work, so we really did see a significant change! Thank you!"      Kelly Underwood - English Teacher - Elmfield Steiner School

 

"Many thanks Kurly! It was great fun and all 80 students got a lot out of the day! We'll certainly see you again soon!" - Hazel Stephens - Head of English - The Priory School a Business and Enterprise College. 

 

"We have worked with ‘Kurly’ McGeachie as a creative writing workshop leader over a number of years, both in schools and community settings and he was a leading participant in our Well Versed ‘poetry in schools’ development project. Kurly is an excellent workshop leader, creative and ambitious, able to work well with all types of people and with an inspiring warmth. He is particularly good at encouraging young people to perform their writing and to have confidence in their creativity and talent. Kurly is also eminently professional; punctual, organised and well prepared. We recommend him highly." - Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive, Writing West Midlands.

 

"We all thoroughly enjoyed your visit and the Citizens attending the Centre were really  enthused about you. You managed to engage the whole room right from the start which is not easy when over half the people are suffering challenging Mental Health Issues. You managed to gain their attention and hold it and the Activity of creating the poem together included everyone in the room. We would love to book you to come again. You are a very talented human being and we all wish you luck and love." - Rachael - St Michaels Day Centre Manager

 

“Kurly brought out the best in our students and worked in such a creative and flexible way that all individuals participated at a level that they felt comfortable with and were able to meet potential that they didnt know they had! Kurlys energy, talent and real empathy for our students was a real joy for me personally and I particularly enjoyed the performances and sharing sessions that he and the students put on which included raps, poems, music production and video's. We look forward to working with Kurly again in the near future and hope that he will pop in to see us whenever he’s in the locality.” - Lorna Matley - Head Teacher, Reach PRU, Stoke-On-Trent

 

"Kurly came to work with 20 high profile year 8 boys. The boys were chosen due to their lack of confidence in literacy and consequently their work avoidance behaviour. They were immediately enthused and engaged by Kurly's supportive manner and effervescent personality. Throughout the day the boys felt confident enough to explore, write and perform their own poetry giving them a sense of achievement and re-igniting their enthusiasm for poetry. It is intended that we will have a follow up day to create media projects to support our poetry performances. It was fantastic to watch the boys work co-operatively and be positive about their work. Myself and the boys involved would recommend Kurly to any school and we hope to invite him back to work with us in the near future."  - Amy Patterson -Teacher of Drama and Literacy Co-ordinator - Avon Valley School. 

 

"Kurly is a fantastic artist and a joy to work with. He relates positively with the youngsters who get a lot from the sessions. Some youngsters have learning needs and some are considered 'at risk'. They all enjoy learning and applying the creative skills Kurly has helped them discover."  - Lisa Campbell - Manager Coventry Boys Club

 

"Professional and fun person, worked very well with the youngsters and staff, all had fun. We want him back to do more!"   - Sarah - Manager - Winsell Youth Project (Make Some Noise) 

 

"A fun day of lyrics and performance. Some of the pupils really surprised themselves by how fun poetry can be!"  Jayne Welch - Centre Manager - Lucas Centre PRU

 

"The easy to use format that Kurly uses makes the process of writing poetry fun and enjoyable to various age ranges. Kurly had 50 and 60 year old members of the community performing poems about their family trees as the finale to our Family Tree project. I’ll definitely be booking him again in the future."  - Francis Nielson - Outreach and Social Inclusion Officer - Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery

 

 

Live performance reviews

‘Behind The Arras’ review by Gary Longden.

Kurly was an exceptionally strong opener. Hugely experienced, he performed only four poems, from memory, but did so in style. He specialises in soft light rhyming pieces, which were tender with a wonderful, innocent vulnerability. 

“Smile” and “You are Beautiful” did as their titles suggest, “Words” explored the joys and torment that words can offer, whilst “Home” was his disguised gem. An opus of epic proportions it starts off as a straight forwards homage to domestic bliss before launching off into several clever and unexpected tangents. Confident, but self-effacing, Kurly’s performance was a delight.

 

‘Hitting the Road Again Blues’ review by Bob Hale

Kurly McGeachie who opened the proceedings had a friendly, bouncy open style and an unusual fondness for peppering his poetry with sound effects - everything from vacuum cleaners to hand grenades. He opened with a short poem about Smiles and followed this with a much longer and more complicated piece called Home. Both were excellent. Whenever I hear poets perform long, complex pieces with this level of skill I am simply awestruck by the talent it takes. Kurly rounded out with a love poem - You Are Beautiful and finished with a piece called Words that was more like rhythmic prose and very good indeed.