John Foster
“Whenever I get an idea, I scribble it down on a piece of paper that I keep in my jacket pocket so I won't forget it.”
About John Foster
Life isn’t always easy, and all of us face hard questions. From a tough week at school to why war happens, John Foster’s poetry touches on things that can be hard to talk about. He puts his finger on some familiar feelings – like the sense of dread after accidentally breaking your mother’s favourite vase.
On the lighter side of John’s poetry, there is great use of word play. He often takes a traditional form, such as the nursery rhyme, and gives it a modern twist – as in Ten Dancing Dinosaurs’.
You will hear that John reads with quite a serious tone, even for the humorous poems – which perhaps adds to the amusement.
Many of John’s poems use traditional forms and end rhymes. His haikus and other short poems use strong simple imagery.
John Foster was born and grew up in Scotby, a village outside Carlisle. His family didn’t have a television, so John spent a lot of time reading.
He always wanted be a writer. At school he wrote poems and later he wrote sports reports for his university newspaper and for the Times. He became a teacher and began writing school textbooks. He also made up poems for his own children, especially on long car journeys.
As a writer, John still writes reference books as well as writing and performing his poetry.
John's recording was made on 28th March 2012 at The Soundhouse in London, and the producer was Anne Rosenfeld.
Featured in the Archive
Selected Bibliography
A Rocketful of Space Poems, Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2017
Dinosaur Rap, Oxford University's Press, 2016
What happens when the Queen burps?, Oxford University's Press, 2013
What do you call a one-eyed dinosaur?, Oxford University's Press, 2013
Christmas Crackers, Oxford University's Press, 2012
How do you make a skeleton laugh?, Oxford University's Press, 2012
What wears a sock on its bottom?, Oxford University's Press, 2012
The Land of the Flibbertigibbets, Salt Publishing, 2011
Football Fever, Oxford University's Press, 2010
The Poetry Chest, Oxford University's Press, 2007
School's Out, Oxford University's Press, 2004
Cockadoodle Moo, Oxford University's Press, 2001