November Artist of the Month –Sarah Ziman
Our November ‘Artist of the Month’ is poet Sarah Ziman
About Sarah Ziman
Sarah Ziman was born and grew up in the south Wales valleys, and now lives in Hertfordshire. Shestarted writing poetry for children when her two sons were at primary school, and thinks a good children’s poem is one that can be enjoyed by anyone. She won the YorkMix children’s poetry prize in 2021, and her debut collection, ‘Why did my brain make me say it?’ was published in 2024 by Troika Books. It was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year 2025 and is currently on the longlist for the UKLA Awards.
What a visit from Sarah entails
Ken’s workshops are fun, fast and all about inspiring the young people to start writing as soon as possible, and getting them over the dreaded ‘but I don’t know what to write!’ stage. He encourages the young people to share their work and the results always surprise and delight the school staff. The sessions can be flexible and he is happy to talk with you about any particular outcomes the school might have for the day.
You can see details on her visits here
Testimonials from previous visits.
“Sarah was amazing! The poems she read were so funny, and the children are still talking about the event! There was also a last minute change to the rotation of children for her reading, and she was so great about it and read some extra poems and listened to the children reading theirs, including offering to publish some on her website. She was great beforehand as well, speaking to me on the phone to prepare for the event, and running through her poetry choices. I can't praise her enough - she was amazing!”
Furley Park Primary Academy
“The visit with Sarah went brilliantly yesterday. She did four different sessions and all were really well pitched and interactive – our pupils really enjoyed them. The main thing was how much of a buzz was created as a result of her workshops and her brilliant book: so many children picked it up (including some of our most reluctant readers!) and started doing impromptu performances of her poems, it was pretty magical”
Alleyn’s School
‘We loved having Sarah Ziman visit our school. First Sarah read some of her brilliantly accessible poetry to the whole school and then our Year 6’s took part in an interactive Poetry Recipe Workshop which they LOVED. Sarah’s visit really made our National Poetry Day feel special. The children were very proud of the poetry that they created in the workshops and there has been a lot more interest in our poetry shelf since!
Librarian, Latymer Prep School
Interview with Sarah Ziman
What made you want to join Authors Abroad?
I’d heard good things from other authors, listened to Yvonne talk about it at the Children’s Poetry Summit, and thought it might be a way to get opportunities I wouldn’t necessarily have come across on my own. Also, it can be a lot easier to invoice Authors Abroad than to have to set up as a supplier with various individual schools, potentially having to chase up payment over several months.
When did you first get interested in poetry?
Like most children, I’d already grown up on rhyming picture books and nursery rhymes, but the first solo book of poetry I really fell for was ‘Please Mrs Butler’ by Allan Ahlberg. I think I was given it when I was about 8, and all the school poems seemed quite recognisable (aside from not knowing any children called Raymond or Maureen!). I was already a big fan of ‘Boggler Boll’ and his ‘Happy Families’ books, but these poems (and Janet Ahlberg’s wonderful illustrations) were funny and memorable, and described situations that I could recognise.
Your debut book ‘Why did my brain make me say it?’ has made quite the impression on multiple awards lists. What has been your most ‘pinch me is this real’ moment with it so far?
Getting onto the shortlist for Wales Book of the Year was certainly one of them, but getting reviewed in The Guardian (a nice one, thankfully!) was amazing too. My Dad is a long-term Telegraph reader though, so on ringing my parents to ask if they’d bought a paper yet that day, I was told that they’d ‘borrow it from one of their lefty friends’! To be fair, a weekend paper is a pretty hefty purchase these days…
Where did the inspiration for brain come from?
I explain this a little bit in the introduction, but whilst there’s not a theme per se – though plenty of poems about the general childhood pillars of school, friends and family – I realised that a lot of the poems came about from the specific way I think, and I’m fascinated by how everyone’s brain works differently. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realised that I had aphantasia, which means I can’t summon pictures when I think. (I always knew I didn’t, but wasn’t aware that other people could!) I do have quite a noisy inner monologue though, which apparently some people don’t have either.
How much is poetry formulaic and how much is enjoying playing with words in your opinion?
Well, I like to think that all of mine is playing with words really. Playing with rhyme and rhythm, playing with form or with free verse, playing with fonts, word size and white space – whilst no two poets will ever approach a subject in exactly the same way, I try to always add an element of the unexpected.
When young people are under so much stress at school and home why is it important to make time for poetry?
I mean, I don’t think that poetry should become a non-negotiable or anything – a guaranteed way to kill the love for something is to force it on someone – but just realising that other people feel the same way as you can be a massive help, whether that’s a song lyric that speaks to you, a rapper who grew up the same way you did, or a poet who has somehow managed to use their words to encapsulate a moment you feel you’ve lived yourself. There are lots of things touted as stress relievers – exercise for one – but if someone insisted that I should be playing netball when I’d rather be kicking the ball, or should love swimming when I’d prefer to stay dry, it’s not going to work. Make time for the poetry that speaks to you, and if you can’t find it, maybe you can write it!
There is a huge demand for poet visits around National Poetry Day (which is great!) but we strongly believe poetry should be included in classrooms year-round. Why should schools embrace poetry outside of the special day?
It’s the best, rule-free way to express yourself and connect with others – children respond to poetry instinctively, but it needs to meet them where they are, and it shouldn’t be some rarefied, out-of-reach, not-usually-for-us-except-on-this-special-day kind of thing. A visit from a musician would still be exciting even though singing is often a natural part of school life.
Are you as good at solving riddles as writing them?
Haha, no, I’m far better at writing them and often a bit rubbish at solving them. That’s OK though, because I still enjoy looking up the answer and then working out how the clues would lead youmthere. So nobody should worry if they don’t get my riddles first time – I probably wouldn’t either if I hadn’t written them. I used to listen to an audio version ‘The Hobbit’ all the time when I was a child, which is probably where I came across the first ones I learnt – the part where Bilbo is in a riddle battle of wits with Gollum, playing for the ring versus a way out from under the mountain. I don’t think I’d have been as sharp as Bilbo is though, so I’d have been eaten by Gollum almost immediately!
Your work shows a special love of animals – do you have a favourite type or one that is fun to write about?
There are a few animal poems in ‘Why did my brain make me say it?’, some more straightforward than others. ‘Spring!’ makes me giggle to myself as I wrote it in a very serious way but it’s actually complete nonsense if you listen carefully – ‘the just-fledged lambs take their first wobbling flights and the ponds are filled with the croaking of spawning daffodils’. You just need to imagine Chris Packham or David Attenborough narrating. My next book has a poem that might just have been written by a bison – one who is annoyed with all the love unicorns and llamas get and wants to get in on the action. I love writing from the point of view of someone or something who wouldn’t usually get any airtime!
What has been a memorable moment from a school or library visit?
I hope the school children at Cheltenham Festival this year enjoyed my workshop and the poem we created together, but I have a feeling they’ll probably remember the poet who managed to tip over a full jug of water half-way through! I always enjoy getting asked to autograph the world’s tiniest scraps of paper too, just in case I’m famous!
What can a school do to ensure they have the best day possible out of a visit with you?
Aside from the practicalities, like ensuring I’ve got a whiteboard or flipchart to write on, and a teacher on hand who is interested in the workshop and not using the time to catch up on marking (I’m sympathetic, but if you don’t seem bothered, the children won’t either) it’s really about building a little excitement beforehand.
Let parents (and staff!) know I’m coming in, but just make time for poetry in general. Share a couple of my poems, sure, but why not ask children to share their own favourites by any poet with the class at the end of the day? Print out the favourites and have them on the wall (teachers can request printable PDFs of some of my poems from my website). Talk about what you like about poetry – get caught reading it. Make sure your library or book corner has some up-to-date collections by poets writing now.
How do you encourage reluctant readers and writers to pick up a book or a pen?
If we’re talking as part of a group, writing a poem together collaboratively takes the pressure off, as does pointing out that I might well make some spelling mistakes or write messily as we’re going along, and that none of that matters as it can all be looked at later. Editing together gives them ownership of the poem too. When it comes to reading, it’s all about enthusiasm and explaining why you enjoy it, plus modelling the behaviour you want to see.
Children are people, and people want to know what something will do for them, so I have also been known to mention that writing a poem for a special person, often Mum, is an almost guaranteed way to put that person in a good mood (and potentially allow another half an hour of screen time!). Once they’ve done it though, I’ve yet to see a child NOT be proud of what they’ve helped create, for its own sake.
The children’s poetry world is full of amazingly talented and dedicated people who really support other poets. Which children’s poets do you admire/would you like to give a shout out to?
Everyone is very supportive in the children’s poetry community and very generous with their time and expertise. There are too many to mention individually really, but Neal Zetter and Coral Rumble have always been generous with tips for school visits, and Carole Bromley has been a great support from the start, along with Brian Moses, who generously features new children’s poets on his website. The online children’s poetry stanza Zigzag, run by Rachel Piercey is a great place if you are starting out in children’s poetry and would like constructive critique and general cheerleading.
I know there are a few more brilliant books in the pipeline – is there anything you can share yet about what we can look forward to in the future?
My second KS2 collection will be coming out next year (this time with Otter-Barry), followed by a book of letter poems (as well as emails, text messages, reviews, advertisements, posters etc) from Firefly in 2027. There is also a themed collection underway with two other poets, which is a whole new way of working and has been really fun, plus a secret project which hasn’t been fully OK’d yet, but is looking promising. Watch this space!
You kindly helped out at our London Poetry slam last year – how did you find the experience? Isn’t it amazing how many young people were able to get up on a stage and perform to such a high standard? (Huge shout out to the dedicated school staff who allowed the young people the time and confidence to achieve this)
I was SO impressed by how they wrote, performed and choreographed themselves and then were able to get up on stage – not just in front of their own school either, which can be daunting enough, but in front of an audience of unknowns. It was a tough job to choose winners as they genuinely were all really impressive!
If someone doesn’t want to be a professional writer for a living why is creative writing or poetry still such a beneficial thing to make time for?
Whilst it can be a huge help to mental health to get feelings out on the page, I think the main thing – for me at least – is that pleasure of creation. When you write something – or if you paint, knit, compose music or any other creative endeavour – you’ve brought something into the world that didn’t exist before, and that’s an undeniable source of satisfaction, whether you share it with others or not. And with poetry, you’ve brought something into existence using only your brain, your experiences, your imagination – you don’t need to have any physical ability at all really. What could be more magical than that?
Budget cuts keep impacting the wonder that is libraries. What difference can a well-funded and staffed public or school library make?
They make ALL the difference and both appropriate stock and proper staffing are of equal importance. A school librarian who knows the kids and what makes them tick is going to be best placed to find that one particular book that’s going to speak to them as an individual. Of course, this is going to be difficult if all your books are from a different time and don’t reflect the lives of children today. It’s SO important to make sure that there are books by authors from the same background as the children, writing characters who look and sound like them, even if those characters are in a fantasy setting. And that’s the other thing – we all have different tastes, so there need to be ‘real life’ stories, fantastical worlds, graphic novels, poetry, picture books and non-fiction books about people and things who matter to children living now, not just what adults think they should be educated in. If it’s not fun at first, why would they continue exploring?
It makes a massive difference to have an adult who can enthuse about the same books as you and take your interests seriously, and the schools who have a librarian have so much more of a reading culture, even though many schools without have teachers trying their best to fulfil this role on top of everything else. Having access to a good local library is even more essential for those children whose schools are underfunded, or whose parents can’t afford to keep buying new books. As a poet, I’m genuinely just as happy to see my book in a library as a book shop.
How do you get over writer’s block?
Sometimes you do have to put a poem away and come back to it in a few weeks/months with fresh eyes, though if you’re just not feeling inspired to write at all it can be more difficult to shake yourself out of a rut. Prompts help some people, but pressure doesn’t, so I’ve found the best thing to do is something else entirely, whether it’s going to a museum, visiting a new town, watching a film, looking at art or just meeting friends – at some point something will click that switch in your brain and make you think ‘Oh, I could write a poem about that/from that point of view’. I do try NaPoWriMo most years – where you write a poem every day for the whole of April – but whilst I would like to be the disciplined ‘write every day’ type more generally, unfortunately I am far more inclined to be a ‘the muse will come when she wills it’ sort of person!
What do you do to relax?
Read! Though not on a beach. Being sandy, sun-creamed and squinting into the sun doesn’t mix well with trying to concentrate on a book, in my opinion. I am happy to read in the bath though, possibly because there aren’t any rockpools to explore in my bathroom. If there is a cheese platter, glass of wine or bag of crisps to hand, all the better.
Quick Fire
Starter or dessert?
Dessert! Especially sticky-toffee pudding...
Which animals super power do you wish you had?
Ooh it would have to be flight. I still sometimes feel that I just need to concentrate hard enough and I’ll start levitating...
Early bird or night owl?
Night owl, 100%! I love being the last one up.
Favourite animated film?
Um, maybe Toy Story, if I had to pick? Or Wallace and Gromit maybe? I was never a Disney Princess kind of girl!
Halloween, Christmas or New Years Eve?
Christmas is my favourite, though my birthday is near Halloween and I do have slight witchy tendencies. I love a good ghost story but I’m not keen on slasher stuff.
Always end with this question so not spooky! If you were Prime Minister for the day, what law would you introduce?
Aside from every school having a librarian, I’d make earphones compulsory on public transport!
Arrange for Sarah Ziman to visit your school
To make an enquiry about Sarah, please contact us as follows
UK visits
Email:UKbookings@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Or contact Yvonne on - 01535 279851
Overseas Visits
Email:Overseasvisits@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Or contact Overseas Manager, Robin - +44(0) 1535 279853