A free workshop teaching children to craft poems from the crash, bang and wallop of everyday sounds will arrive at Peterborough Central Library on 6 August 2026. Run by local poet Sandy Wardrop, who describes himself as a ‘M.A.D. Scientist of Words’, the session called Fizz, Pop, Bang! opens its doors to children aged five and over at 10:30am.
The workshop invites young people to explore onomatopoeia through silly songs, word games and the chance to invent entirely new sound words of their own. Wardrop, a former Good Shout slam champion and runner-up for Peterborough Poet Laureate in 2020, has lived in the city since 2016. All children must be accompanied by an adult, and booking in advance is recommended because places are limited.
Residents can reserve spots at any Peterborough library or by emailing the reading engagement team. Two earlier sessions will take place at Orton Library on 24 July at 2:30pm and at Bretton Library on 29 July at 2pm. The workshops form part of the libraries’ summer activities programme, which also includes the Read to the Beat Summer Reading Challenge running until 5 September.
Wardrop is a committee member of Syntax Poetry Collective, the organisation that oversees the Peterborough Poet Laureate role—now in its 28th year and the second longest-running such position in the country. His graphic poem It’s Safe Here was shared more than 14,000 times online in 2019, reaching readers across the UK, USA, Australia and the Philippines.
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