Companion guide
Spark something powerful
Inspirational new texts and poetry for GCSE English Literature.
Worlds and lives
Worlds and Lives is an exciting, modern collection of poems that include some well-known, familiar names as well as new, current voices.
It’s different from Love and Relationships and Power and Conflict because two thirds of the poems in this new collection are published post-2000. Whilst very modern, the poems are rooted in the revolutionary spirit of the Romantics, which we hope will spark young people’s interest in poetry.
The collection is both personal and political and explores concerns about the world we live in. It also looks at relatable universal themes, including our relationship with places and ideas about home, heritage, belonging and connection.
The cluster at a glance:
"The Worlds and Lives cluster makes me incredibly proud and excited for English and poetry teaching. Every aspect of identity can’t be reflected in 15 poems. But this collection of mostly living poets means that the poets themselves can help us understand their poems and the worlds and lives they come from.””
Niquelle LaTouche, English teacher
Contact our team
We’re here to support you with any questions you have.
Tel: 0161 953 7504
8am–5pm Monday to Friday
Email: english-gcse@aqa.org.uk
Join the conversation
Let us know if you’re interested
We’d love to hear from you. We’re also giving away free poetry anthologies to teachers who register their interest.