Ripping up the dead poets society
More cultural vandalism in the long march through the institutions
Britain’s education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, has accused an English examination board of “cultural vandalism” because it has removed from the syllabus some 15 poems including works by Philip Larkin, Wilfred Owen and Seamus Heaney .
OCR, one of England’s three main exam boards, has announced a reform to its English literature syllabus to make way for “exciting and diverse” new poems. It has included 15 new works, retained 30 and removed 15. New names include British-Jamaican poet Raymond Antrobus, as well as Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky.
Said OCR:
Our anthology for GCSE English literature students will feature many poets that have never been on a GCSE syllabus before and represent diverse voices, from living poets of British-Somali, British-Guyanese and Ukrainian heritage to one of the first black women in 19th-century America to publish a novel.
Of the 15 poets whose work has been added, 14 are poets of colour. Six are black women, one is of South Asian heritage. Our new poets also include disabled and LGBTQ+ voices.
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