Audio: Climate Change Poems read by Celebrities

An audio resource that contains 21 poems on climate change. Compiled by UK poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, the resource provides audio files on themes of climate change by renowned poets, narrated by celebrities. The resource includes the following poems read by different celebrities:

1. James Franco reads ‘Causeway’ by Matthew Hollis
2. Jeremy Irons reads ‘Storm’ by Michael Longley 
3. Ruth Wilson reads ‘Vertigo’ by Alice Oswald 
4. Gabriel Byrne reads ‘Zoological Positivism Blues’ by Paul Muldoon 
5. Michael Sheen reads ‘Scratching for Metaphor in the Somerset Coalfields’ by Sean Borodale
6. Kelly Macdonald reads ‘Extinction’ by Jackie Kay 
7. Maxine Peake reads ‘A Mancunian Taxi-driver Foresees His Death’ by Michael Symmons Roberts 
8. Tamsin Greig reads ‘Last Snowman’ by Simon Armitage
9. Iain Glen reads ‘Nostalgia’ by Don Paterson
10. Iwan Rheon reads ‘Cantre’r Gwaelod*’ by Gillian Clarke 
11. James Franco reads ‘Still like with Sea Pinks and High Tide’ by Maura Dooley
12. Jeremy Irons reads ‘Turbines in January’ by Colette Bryce
13. Ruth Wilson reads ‘Silent Sea’ by Rachael Boast
14. Gabriel Byrne reads ‘The Solace of Artemis’ by Paula Meehan
15. Michael Sheen reads ‘The Rhinoceros’ by Robert Minhinnick 
16. Kelly Macdonald reads ‘X’ by Imtiaz Dharkar
17. Maxine Peake reads ‘Doggerland’ by Jo Bell  
18. Tamsin Greig reads ‘A Language of Change’ by David Sergeant
19. Iain Glen reads ‘California Dreaming’ by Lachlan McKinnon
20. Gabriel Byrne reads ‘Late Sentinels’ by Peter Fallon 
21. James Franco reads ‘I was Born into a World’ by James Franco 

Both audio mp3 and text versions of the poems are available on the website

Students will learn about climate change through the use of poetry. They will also understand the techniques involved in writing and analysing poetry.  

Use this tool to help your students find answers to: 

1. How is climate change portrayed in modern poetry?
2. How do you analyse a poem? 

About the Tool 

Tool Name	‘Our melting, shifting liquid world’: celebrities read poems on climate change
Discipline	Humanities
Topic(s) in Discipline	Poetry, Literature
Climate Topic	Climate and Society
Type of tool	Reading, Audio
Grade Level	High school, Undergraduate
Location	Global
Language	English
Translation
Developed by	Carol Ann Duffy
Hosted at	The Guardian
Link	Audio Link
Access	Online/Offline
Computer Skills	Basic