Are you a poet and you know it?
Or have flowing rap capabilities but no direction, support or facilities?
Momtaza Mehri, the young people’s laureate for London is coming to Redbridge along with rapper and musician Dizraeli and leading poet Remi Graves.
On Wednesday, October 24, budding wordsmiths aged between 13 and 25 can head to Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, for a free workshop that challenges and develops skills.
The session will be followed by performances from Mehri and Minamore as well as an open mic session that young people are welcome to take part in.
The workshop is being held as part of the Be My Next Inspiration campaign - a week-long outer London borough tour in local libraries to motivate young people to write and connect with poetry.
Momtaza said she is excited by the forthcoming tour and is looking forward to seeing the “different flavours” Redbridge young poets and producers bring to the event.
“It’s important for young Londoners to recognise that they too shape this city and their borough.
“The tour is a way for them to create a thriving poetry culture wherever they live.
“All it takes is some inspiration, a few friends and passion - poetry needs young people.”
The Be My Next Inspiration campaign, developed in collaboration with creative agency Bureau, helps give young people access to poetry.
It also aims to build confidence, create youth-led collaborations and demonstrate how spoken word can give a voice and escape to participants.
For the campaign, Mehri created a special poem alongside young people called the No Name Club which highlights their concerns about the impact of gentrification and change.
Tour poet Remi Graves added: “Poetry is a vehicle for young people to tell their stories, for discovering themselves, their creativity and new routes for self-expression.
“When taking part in my workshops, young people can expect to be challenged to think about things in new ways, share different parts of their personality, meet new people and come together to create poems that they might not have expected to write.”
The free workshops at Redbridge Central Library start at 1pm with open mic and performance, which is BSL interpreted, from 5.30pm.
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