SEARLE, Chris (ed.).

£75 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

All Our Words. First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Adrian, with love and thanks, Forward ever! Chris". The recipient was Adrian Mitchell (1932-2008), poet, novelist and playwright. At the time of publication of this volume, it was left to independent publishers to talk about economic inequality and highlight the links between race and class. This volume, opening with the line "it is the ordinary people of this country that make our language", features a collection of essays by Searle, as well as poetry, short stories, and plays written by British schoolchildren from many different backgrounds. In May 1971, Chris Searle, then a young English teacher, was sacked for editing and publishing a collection of children's poetry, "Stepney Words", which captured their lives in East London in a raw and powerful way, capturing the racism and loneliness they felt. The poems so horrified the governors as to result in Searle's dismissal. A week later 800 pupils came out on strike and marched through the City of London to Trafalgar Square. The strike became national headline news and the children received considerable support in the press for their protest. Two years later, after parents, the Inner London Education Authority, the National Union of Teachers, and even Margaret Thatcher, then Education Secretary, came out in favour of Chris Searle, he got his job back and the children were vindicated. Searle went on to edit two collections of children

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