“At school I loved English, fantasy fiction and wild stories but it wasn’t until I hit my teens that I really started writing. I used to be all Gothic and write by moonlight and larva lamp, and what came out onto the paper was poetry. I wrote and wrote streams of consciousness that nearly always happened to rhyme, that was just what I did. It became my escape and I used to be very self conscious about all my writing books, hiding them away so no-one could read them.

I went to University in Plymouth and discovered Forked! at The Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, a spoken word night. I fell in love. I really did. Suddenly I remember thinking, this is something I want to do, and then it all came together. All the years of my poetry really meant something, it wasn’t something to be hidden away, it was a real art, a talent, a skill that I wanted to share, just like all the other amazing people I watched on stage, wide-eyed. So from then on I wrote more and more and you-tubed spoken word artists and Apples and Snakes got really into rappers and MCs as well as loads of other performance poets, and all I wanted to do was say that “I am a spoken word artist”.

When I heard about Shake The Dust I flew home from Thailand and the next day attended a training day to help my application to become a shadow poet. So here I am now, a shadow poet for the South West,not only working for Apples and Snakes but working IN that Barbican theatre, all these things were just a dream to me before but my passion for poetry made the reality! Not only that but my confidence has grown and grown and I can’t wait to get up on stage and let everyone hear my words. I have even won a competition and have become the South West representative for the 12 poets of 2012, where I help to collaborate a poem with other winners from the other regions which is to then be displayed in the. Poetry has given me so much, and through Shake The Dust, I have also undertaken voluntary Youth Support roles which has brought me onto my new venture to do a MA in Social Work. I have high ambitions to use poetry in every way possible to help it change other peoples lives too.

So how has Poetry changed me? Well, poetry made me.”

“When I came into the German Poetry Slam scene in 2002, people told me that I was putting energy into a thing that was way beyond it’s climax. Until then Poetry Slam in Germany had been growing for eight or nine years since the first slam was started in Berlin. There were about 25 slams across the country and to some it obviously seemed that the movement began to slow down. Little did I know how wrong those people were.

Back then I was just a young student trying to read my first poems from shivering pages. It’s 2012 now, and I not only still enjoy performing at slam

s, but for the last six years it’s actually become my day job! At present there are more than 200 slams in Germany and way more slam-related shows such as theatre slams, science slams, reading stages and slam revues. There is a regular slam show on national television now, and last year Nora Gomriger, a slam poet from Bavaria, won one of the most important prizes in German literature.

Poems by slam poets are printed in school books and I know of several literature and cultural museums that featured Poetry Slam in their exhibitions. Last summer I walked down a road in Berlin and I saw a small coffee shop with a sign saying “In here: No WiFi, No Coffee-to-go, No Poetry Slam”. That made me laugh at first, just like the clown in Stephen Kings “It”, but then I realised that maybe by now the slam scene has grown out of proportion. Maybe Poetry Slam is way beyond it’s climax!

At least this is what I tell young students that are trying to read their first poems from shivering pages.”

Check out:

myslam.net and the words of Sebastian 23 

One thing that is unique about Shake the Dust is that up and coming poets get a chance to work with more experienced poetry workshop facilitators. My coach Mike Parker has gradually given me more and more responsibility, and as a result my confidence has grown both as a poet and a person.

I hooked up with two other shadows from the South East: Tina Sederholm who works with poet coach Rosy Carrick at Quilley School of Engineering in Eastleigh and Matt West who assists Steve Larkin at Harrow Way Community School in Andover.

What’s the best about Shake the Dust so far?

Tina: Seeing people come out with poems that ten or fifteen minutes ago they didn’t know they had in them, the look on their faces: “Wow, I did that.”

Matt: Working with Steve, working with a professional performance poet and learning from them

Do you have a special moment you want to share?

Tina: When one girl turned up with a book of poems she’d written [at home] after our first workshop

Matt: Seeing year 8 students excel in comparison with their year 10 counterparts, having that confidence in an untrammelled way

What are your expectations for the final?

Tina: My goals is that everyone has a really good time and come out with lots of enthusiasm and inspiration to continue as poets and performers

Matt: Don’t know, I live life without expectations, the zen way, but it’s a brilliant platform for poets to work together and promote the spoken work

Both Tina and Matt feel confident that they will continue to run workshops on their own once the project is finished and I can only agree. We have already stepped out of the shadows!

In the playground at lunch time, a group of year six girls approached me.  “I like what you said about the wind,” they chorused. I blushed, my stomach twisting in ridiculous knots, my head swelling with pride. “I think the wind is the best out of all the weathers,” one of them said, and I shyly agreed, “want to come and play with us?”

The year six’s and I headed out to the playground, breaking the rules of year groups and ages and playing kiss chase with the grown up boys until I felt like my heart would explode.

Eighteen years later I started up a poetry night. I had seen how much talent Bristol had to offer; heard poetry blurted out when drunkenly walking back from the pub and the mutterings of lyrics in the bathrooms of house parties. I knew that I wanted to create an environment where people could experiment with words, where first timers would feel safe enough to stand up, where old timers would feel inspired enough to speak again, where people could unite and share their love of poetry.

‘Shhh…it’s Sunday’ ran for three years and became so much more then that initial idea. It grew into a space of experimentation, promoting the value of bringing all types of people together within the diversity of a city. I soon found myself surrounded by those bold enough and brave enough to bring their weird and wonderful imaginations into being. People, just like those year sixes, who I may have never got to spend time with, if it wasn’t for our shared love of words.

Check out Rebecca’s words and blog.

I’m back again and for my third blog I bring you news from one of the five North East teams.

A few days ago I was kindly invited along to Our Lady and St Bede’s School is Stockton to see how poets Alfie Crow and Sophie F Baker and their team were coming along.

Alfie has been on the poetry scene for many years (I won’t say exactly how many!) and has worked with numerous community groups and schools.  He has worked on similar projects to this one but this is his 1st Shake the Dust.

Sophie told me “I’ve worked in schools before with teachers but this is the first time I’ve worked with pupils.  It is a little scary but very rewarding”.  Sophie was up at 5.30am to get to school for 9am.  I didn’t know that there was a 5.30am!  In addition to working on the Shake the Dust project Sophie works at Mslexia

Teacher, J Lockheart, also share’s their enthusiasm for the Shake the Dust project – “This is the first time the school has taken part in Shake the Dust.  The buzz from the students has been brilliant!”

I also had a chance to speak with some of the pupils.  Here are some comments they had to share about the project:

“It has helped to boost my confidence”

“It is helping me to overcome my stage fright”

My morning at the Stockon School was extremely enjoyable.  The energy in the room was amazing and I can’t wait to see the team again at the regional final.

Good luck to you all!

Shake the Dust asked the young people from the Finnish slam group, Slämärit, how they started writing and performing poetry in the first place. One young person told us; “it was because of my great Finnish language teacher, they made slam poetry seem very interesting, so I wanted to try it myself. I had written stories before, but never poems. So, I wanted to try something new,” another said, “I have always liked poetry, ever since I was little,” and others simply “wanted to try something new!”

Shake the Dust asked this experienced slam team what it’s like to compete in a youth slam in Finland and they told us, “exciting and fun! It’s is something that has become really close to us now, I really enjoy writing poems, and performing them in a group.” Slämärit for many of them was something new and after a couple of meetings it really started to be fun, and with such a great group some of the young people have been with Slämärit for almost 3 years. They said it was a great way to work with other people and make new friends and write the poems together, “I wouldn’t do it alone,” one team member told us.

Similar to Shake the Dust the young people involved with Slämärit are lucky enough to have a Poet Coach, to help aid their development, “I like the fact that we get a professional poet to teach and talk to us. And that our teacher has to do the same exercises too!”  The team take their writing on outside the sessions and are living and breathing poetry at every given moment since the project started: “we have been writing during lessons, when the teachers haven’t been looking, some of the poems have been published on the Slämärit website!”

The young people emphasised how important poems are to them as part of their Finnish culture,  and didn’t hesitate to introduce us to poems like, Kalevala (a Finnish epic, written in a unique metre) as well as other interesting texts. Poetry for them helps to express themselves in a number of ways. They tell us they think it’s “something special that everyone should try.”

As the Shake the Dust Regional Finals are about to kick off across the UK, we asked the Finnish slam team for a word of advice for our teams here in England and what do they do before going on stage? They told us to, “go over the poem together, joke around and plan what to do if you, for any reason made a mistake. We share our feelings and with that we share the nerves.” One experienced slam team member said:

“I have performed a lot, and I always feel nervous before going on stage, but, I only feel nervous when I’m not on the stage. When I’m performing I always forget everything else, and I don’t feel nervous at all! When you are waiting your turn to get up stage, you just need to remember to breathe calmly and remember that nothing can go wrong.”

The Slämärit team’s advice for those who have never tried slam is: “give slamming a try, you’ll be surprised!” and to “express yourself through poems, it beats regular school so have fun and find new friends!” Some of the team said they “had doubts before our performance, but now I’m really happy that I had the guts to do Slämärit! So don’t be too shy to show what you have written. If you do so, some good ideas can go to waste. There are not stupid ideas or poems! Slämärit and Shake the Dust would recommend slam poetry to anyone!”

Slämärit i open to kids aged 12-16 years old, we have had five Final Celebrations so far, using techniques that Jacob taught us, and have had so much fun doing it all. It hasn’t always been easy, but on the whole it has been interesting and motivating. Plus, I have been able to take lot of the things I’ve learned through Slämärit and used them in my regular teaching which is a bonus! In my opinion students gain self-confidence, as well as a wider perspective on things, and a chance to be heard! Through youth slam they gain positive memories, new friends, and a deeper understanding of poetry. The biggest challenges for Slämärit students, is to trust in themselves, in us teachers, and in the poet coaches that they won’t embarrass themselves or be embarrassed by others. It take guts to do something new, regardless of what someone else might say about your writing and performance.

You can read more about Slämäritat:

 http://www2.edu.fi/lehtiverstas/templates/artikkeli.php?id=507&dep=2221&clip=39433

When it came to our turn to write and perform, even at that age I felt very self-critical so did not put my hand up to take part. There were a fair few hands in the air from the class. The obvious ones, of course, that are the first to put their fingers on their lips or say “Hummm… I’m telling the teacher” which made me all the more reluctant to share what I had written. I glanced over at our teacher, Miss Tarbet and she was gesturing for me to share my piece with the class. I was a little confused and nervous still so shook my head.

Mr Poet guy noticed this. So ignoring the desperate hands in the air from the rest of the class he asked me to stand up and share my poem. Rather reluctantly, I agreed. If I remember correctly I think it was about different audiences for different sports, the contrast between the composure of snooker to the hooliganism of football. (Obviously in a light-hearted, 10 year old point of view)

When I finished there was a great sense of achievement. The poet seemed impressed and Miss Tarbet, who was usually a tough shell to crack, looked really pleased. That was one of those moments where Mr poet guy must have spotted potential in the young me, and it’s funny because I get moments like that now when working with youngsters. There are certain kids that you just know will be creatively driven and artistic. That needs to encouraged and nurtured other-wise it can be bottled up through fear of ridicule.

Myself (right), Becky, Joe & Saju, creating imagery

Hello all, it’s Hannah here, blogging to you on behalf of the Yorkshire & Humberside region.

Shake The Dust spirit is spreading through my veins and I’m honored to drop you all an insight on how our teams are shaking.

First up, a small introduction. I’m Hannah Robinson, a shadow artist and digital champion, from the area of Leeds. I’m a student of theatre and creative writing. This project has released me on a path towards my dream career, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be chosen as part of it.

Representing the only youth group in the region, my workshops are based on First Floor at The West Yorkshire Playhouse.  I’m shadow to Paulette Morris, a poet coach who delivers me with a world of endless inspiration. Her ways are feeding me with knowledge on how to command a classroom, engage in creative exercise and extract the best from the young individuals.

One workshop in, our journey is just crossing the starting line, yet the response is already strong and touching. The first workshop alone allowed a set of passionate kids to purge their soul through heartfelt expression of words and performance. Powerful team pieces are already taking shape, and the youngsters are inspired to write from home. It’s all looking positive from here!

Artistic Director, Jacob Sam-La Rose, dropped by last week to allow shadows and coaches time to gather and share. Positives and challenges were exchanged across the table, spreading a vibe for our regional team as a whole. All in all, Yorkshire is gearing up strong for battle! The majority of our teams are well underway with workshops and many have their final eight slammers selected. We all benefited greatly from the opportunity to work on the physical exercise that aimed to create imagery in performance. Left a truly motivated shadow, the development day further fuelled my soul with enthusiasm and self-belief. Bring on the slam!!

The second Shake the Dust development day for Poet Coaches and Shadows took place yesterday at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. It was great to catch up with each other and share our experiences so far.

Jacob Sam-La Rose, the artistic director of the project, is a firm believer of trying all the exercises yourself before you impose them on your students. We all enjoyed an activity where we were given a poem and asked to make physical images to go with the words. In the picture Tina, Mike, Steve and Rosy are building up to a moment where they manifest shower gel!

I asked all the Shadows and Coaches what their most magical Shake the Dust moment had been so far …

Here are some of the answers:

“The haiku one of my students wrote without knowing what a haiku is”

 ”One girl turning up with a book of poems she’d written after the first workshop”

 “When a group started mixing and matching their lines and created something new. They couldn’t wait to perform it because they knew it was good”

“Upsetting the students expectations about poetry – that it can be alive and in the room like a funky elephant”

“Getting the kids to work on rap structures and seeing their looks of horror turning into glorious realisation that they could do it”