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By Aurora Ledesma
HELEN DUNMORE
Helen Dunmore was
a British poet, novelist, and short story and children’s writer. She was born
in Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1952. She was the second child of four children of
Betty (née Smith) and Maurice Dunmore. Her father managed industrial firms, but
loved poetry, and Helen learned many rhymes, hymns and ballads during her
childhood.
She attended
Nottingham Girls’ High School and studied English at York University (1970-1973).
She lived for two years in Finland, where she worked as a teacher.
In 1980, she
married Frank Charnley, a lawyer, and they had two children: a son, Patrick,
and a daughter, Tess. Frank had a son,
Ollie, from a previous marriage. Helen died from cancer in 2017.
Her best-known works include the
novels Zennor in Darkness, A Spell of Winter and The Siege,
and her last book of poetry was Inside the Wave (2017). She won the
inaugural Orange Prize for fiction, the National Poetry Competition, and
posthumously the Costa Book Award.
Her writings for
children include short stories, and novels for older children, such as the Ingo
Chronicles (2005). Some of Dunmore’s children’s books are included in
reading lists for use in schools.
Dunmore’s readers
will not be surprised to learn she loved gardening, and she knew about wild flowers.
She was a brave and strong swimmer, venturing into the sea on cold days in a
wetsuit. She loved art, buying as much as she could afford and enjoyed
collaborating with artists and musicians.
The final poem Hold Out Your Arms, is an
intimate and powerful poem of how the novelist recounts her thoughts and
emotions as she faces her final days. She invites death to “hold out your
arms for me” describing the figure of death coming to take her away. Death
is not something to be feared, but caring and gentle. The poem, written just
days before she died of cancer on June 2017, was included in her poetry
collection Inside the wave. She was ‒first and last‒ a poet.
MY POLISH TEACHER’S TIE
My Polish Teacher’s Tie was first published in 2001 in the short story collection
Ice Cream. The protagonist, Carla Carter, works as a part-time catering
staff at an English School. She is half-Polish, but the teachers don’t know
that. She is a single mother with a daughter, Jade. Carla’s mother was Polish,
and she came to England after the war. She taught her some Polish children’s
songs full of rhymes, so Carla spoke Polish till she was six, but her father forbade
her to speak Polish before she started school, and that’s why she has forgotten
most of it.
One day, Carla overhears the school’s headmaster
saying that some Polish teachers want to improve their written English and are
looking for pen friends in English schools. Carla asks the headmaster for one
of the Polish teacher’s addresses, and she begins writing to Steve. Days later,
she receives the first letter from him, and she realises that he thinks that she
is an English teacher. When Carla writes to Steve, she doesn’t want to tell him
anything about her employment. She tells him about her daughter Jade and about
the songs that her mother taught her. Steve tells her that he writes poetry and
sends Carla beautiful poems. At first, they write once a week, but later,
twice. Their letters become friendly and personal, and a connection between them
builds up.
Some time later, the Head announces that a teacher
will be coming over from Katowice the following month. His name is Stefan
Jeziorny. Carla feels a bit surprised, because she hadn’t read his last letter
yet, in which he tells her about his visit. Carla dreads meeting him, knowing
he will discover her real job, and thinks he will be disappointed. When he
arrives, he will be staying with Valerie Kenward, a teacher at the school.
Valerie complains that she can’t understand Steve, because of his accent, and
she also makes fun of his tie.
As soon as Carla sees him in the staff room, she goes
over to introduce herself. When she sees that he is pleased to meet her and
does not care what job she does, she becomes more confident and positive. To
her surprise, Steve sings a Polish song. She recognizes it from her childhood,
and the two of them sing together.
Some Reflections
Sometimes, as happens with the characters in the
story, having a low-level job and being a foreigner could make us feel ashamed,
insignificant and even invisible.
On one hand, Carla hides her origins from her
colleagues and her job from Stefan, she’s ashamed of being just a server. On the
other hand, Stefan feels isolated and misunderstood, he just smiles like a
child, because he doesn’t know anyone. His way of dressing, his accent and his
manners are cruelly criticized by Valerie.
When Stefan shows a warm and inclusive approach
towards Carla, regardless of her job, she becomes more confident. She realises
that there is so much more to a person’s identity than their surface.
QUESTIONS
-What can a tie, a piece of clothes, a dress... tell us about the person?
-What is more important for you, your mother tongue, or another tongue you have learned along your life? Why do you think so? When are we ashamed of our accent or of our mother tongue?
-Sometimes we feel inferior, and sometimes superior, in front of a stranger. What are the circumstances for every case?
-In your view, can art be really appreciated by somebody without education? What is your opinion about the saying "There's no accounting for taste"? "Good taste" is something natural or something learned?
VOCABULARY
overall, kitty, tipping, chucking, OFSTED, serving-hatch, bin, sod it, stage-whispered, squiggles, swim, bumbled