Young People Bring Poetry to Life

Last Updated (Monday, 22 February 2010 12:49) Written by Super Administrator Tuesday, 27 May 2008 20:58

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If you’ve ever imagined poetry as purely “old school”, then you haven’t met the South Auckland Poets Collective, a group of nine “soley and lyrically spoken” young people aged 16-22 who are adding a youth flavour to the spoken word.

The collective will be performing their works at a community showcase during Youth Week on May 28th at Fresh Gallery in Otara at 7.30pm.


The group of young poets was formed last December when they prepared pieces to perform at the Splore Festival with the help of Youthline youth workers and poet Daren Kamali.


They were a huge success at the festival and decided to keep the group going, forming the South Auckland Poets Collective: Solely & Lyrically Spoken.


The group meets monthly, with a combination of youth development and poetry activities.


Facilitator and Youthline youth worker Grace Taylor, says that the young people write poems about anything and everything and have grown their confidence hugely since starting the group.


“They are at that stage of their lives when they are exploring themselves and the world around them so they tend to write about their experiences and each person adds their own flavour to their performance.”


The community showcase is just the beginning for this group who have plans to expand the collective to other areas of Auckland, record a CD and publish a book of their works.


The young people are also in high demand with several online sites wanting to publish their work, while a number of them will be auditioning for Poetry Idol, a competition which is part of the Auckland Writers Festival this month.


The South Auckland Poets Collective is funded with help from Manukau City Council Creative Communities and Youthline.


The collective’s performance event will also see the launch of a new Youth Code of Rights, created by the Counties Manukau District Health Board Youth Advisory Group, letting young people know what they can expect when accessing health and disability services, starting at 6pm.