Creativity Engine

Write with the SevenStories Archive

Generation

Valerie Bloom

Born in Jamaica in 1956, Valerie Bloom came to England in 1979. A poet, novelist and performer, Valerie has retained her native voice, with many of her poems written in Jamaican patois. She frequently performs her poetry for children, in schools and workshops and at festivals, often beginning the performance with a crash course in Jamaican patois, and also works with and performs for adults and teachers. As a performer, Valerie is in demand throughout the United Kingdom and abroad. Her work is publicly cited by teachers recommending poems for teaching and is widely anthologised. Valerie has won many prizes for her work and was awarded an MBE in 2008.

Selected bibliography

  • Stars With Flaming Tails (2021), Otter-Barry Books
  • Jaws and Claws and Things With Wings (2013), Harper Collins
  • The Tribe (2007), MacMillan Children's Books
  • Whoop an' Shout (2003), MacMillan Children's Books
  • Surprising Joy (2003), MacMillan Children's Books
  • Hot Like Fire (2002), Bloomsbury Children's Books
  • The World Is Sweet (2000), Bloomsbury Children's Books
  • Let Me Touch The Sky (2000), MacMillan Children's Books
  • Fruits (2000), MacMillan Children's Books
  • Ackee, Breadfruit, Callaloo (1999), Bogle L'Ouverture and MacMillan Caribbean
  • Duppy Jamboree (1992), Cambridge University Press
A photo of

From the archive

A manuscript draft in blue and black ink with alternative readings for the poem 'Nineteen' commissioned by the Commonwealth War Graves commission.

Draft for the poem 'Nineteen'

Call Number: VB-01-05

A typed draft for the novel 'Surprising Joy', including manuscript corrections, additions and deletions in blue and red ink.

Draft for 'Surprising Joy' (2003)

Call Number: VB-2-1-1

An opening from one of Valerie Bloom's notebooks containing a manuscript draft for a chapter of the novel 'The Tribe' (2007).

Notebook with drafts of 'The Tribe' (2007)

Call Number: VB-2-2-1

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