Former City Laureate turns to kid's audio books
Former Plymouth Poet Laureate, Thom Boulton, has launched an exciting, new podcast channel called THOM BOULTON’S STORYVERSE. The channel is a weekly episodic release of unpublished children’s literature, written by Thom himself.
Thom was Poet Laureate from 2016 until 2020 and during that time championed encouraging young writers across Plymouth to take part in workshops, competitions, and live performances. As a primary teacher, Thom has over a decade of experience with young readers and writers and hopes his new channel will engage and enthuse through the ever-growing medium of audio books.
Thom said, “Audiobooks are growing more and more popular. Streaming and podcasting has really changed how we access and digest content and it felt like the perfect vehicle to release the growing collection of children’s literature I’ve been writing over the last few years!” He continued, “The first series will be weekly chapter releases of my story, The Never-Knot Witch. It’s the first book in a series of titles I’ve written for children aged 5-11. I’ve drawn on my poetic technique and my knowledge of what the kids I teach seem to enjoy the most from books — to try and create exciting narratives. The stories treat them like young people and don’t talk down to them. Each one tackles a big concept such as loneliness, bereavement, different types of families, and even more global issues like climate change.”
“The plan is to release the first book and then follow that with a few short stories that teach breathing and meditation techniques through tales about animals. Child wellbeing is vitally important as this generation learns to navigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The podcast format offers me the flexibility to explore lots of different things.”
Eventually, Thom hopes that he and series illustrator, Anthony Rollinson, will publish paperback copies of the books for sale, but for now — it’s all about audio.
You can access the channel for free through Thom’s website www.thomboulton.com or through Amazon Music, Deezer, iTunes, and Google Podcasts.
For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Thom 07814 683856 or greenbanddruid@outlook.com
