Roger Stevens started writing poems a long, long time ago when he was at junior school. He began writing and performing poetry for children after Brian Moses visited the school where he was teaching. Roger’s first published poem was When I Write Haiku in Brian’s collection My First Has Gone Bonkers (Macmillan) published in 1993.Since then Roger’s poetry has appeared in over three hundred anthologies as well as several solo collections. Roger performs his poetry in schools, libraries and festivals all over the country and he runs creative writing workshops for young and old. He is a member of the Poetry Society’s Poetry Class and founded the award-winning website The Poetry Zone way back in 1998. www.poetryzone.co.uk The Poetry Zone offers young people a place to publish their work.

Haiku

When I write haiku
I always seem to have one
Syllable left o -
ver
Roger also plays in a band - Damn Right I Got the Blues with Ken Follett and Floella Benjamin. His favourite poets are Roger McGough, Adrian Mitchell, Shel Silverstein and Billy Collins.

Book List

The Monster That Ate the Universe (Macmillan Children’s Books) All human life (and some odd animal life) can be found here in this very funny, sometimes sad, often serious and occasionally strange collection of poems.

Why Otters Don’t Wear Socks contains laughs (including chuckles, guffaws and grins); sad moments (some);thrills (many); rhymes; haikus; rude words; adjectives (assorted); made-up words (including whamwig); nonsense and a fat penguin called Pete.

In Roger’s anthology The Secret Life of Pants (A&C Black) there are poems to make you laugh, poems to drive you mad, poems to make you feel sick, poems to scare you, serious and thoughtful poems and, of course, lots of poems about PANTS!

Let’s Recycle Grandad (A&C Black) is an irresistible collection of new and recycled poems by some of the best poets around. It will make you laugh, howl and start to feel green. They cover everything from bad habits, UFOs and Dracula to recycled loo paper (naturally).

The Jumble Book (Macmillan Children’s Books) was put together by Roger to help Dyslexia Action. The pages are yellow, which helps many dyslexic readers, and it has a very friendly font. Of course the poems are for everybody and include great poems by Brian Moses, John Foster, Michael Rosen, Roger McGough, John Hegley and Kit Wright.

On My Way to School I Saw a Dinosaur (Hands Up Press) is Roger’s first collection for younger readers. It follows a year in the life of Frog Class and features Billy, who is just a little bit naughty!

The Journal of Danny Chaucer (Poet) (Orion) tells the story of the teenage Danny, his desperate bid to win Jenny’s favour and the formation of his band Cast No Shadow. It’s told in poetry through Danny’s diary and was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as the afternoon play.

Roger’s poems can also be found alongside the poems of Brian Moses, David Harmer and Paul Cookson in The Truth About Teachers and The Truth About Parents (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Audio List

For children

Why Otters Don’t Wear Socks (Macmillan Audio) Roger Stevens reads 59 of his favourite poems.

For grown-ups

Dodgy Derek’s Desert Drive-in Dunk-a-Doughnut Stand (Rabbit Audio)
A long time ago Roger was in a band called the Killer Rabbits. It was no ordinary band. Look them up on You Tube.

The Wonky Finger Field Trip (Rabbit Audio) Songs written and performed by Roger in his home studio featuring the sound of the 60s.