Students ready for poetry slam

Timaru will celebrate New Zealand’s National Poetry Day for the first time with an intersecondary school poetry slam on August 26.

Already 10 young poets from Timaru Boys’, Craighead Diocesan and Mountainview high schools have put themselves forward to perform, with 20 more slots open.

Event organiser and TBHS English teacher Kelvin Furze believed poetry was a ‘‘good tool for mental health’’, and was excited there was an event to support local young writers.

‘‘Teenagers have got plenty going on in their lives and poetry is a good vehicle for them to express themselves.’’

Furze said the event, in which people perform their own personal poetry before an audience and judges, came about ‘‘mainly because we saw there’s not much going on in Timaru, and it’s National Poetry Day, so we thought we’d make an effort to support the day and get in on the action’’.

‘‘Teenagers have got plenty to say.’’

The event will be held at TBHS, with $150 worth of prizes to be won, provided by event sponsor Phantom Billstickers.

‘‘We will see what the appetite is like and we could make it an annual event,’’ Furze said.

‘‘In a boys’ school, poetry gets a low profile.’’

However, poetry is getting a bigger name for itself in the district, with Timaru-born Mountainview High School graduate Jordan Hamel winning the title of New Zealand Poetry Slam champion in 2018 and representing the country at the World Poetry Slam Champs in 2019.

‘‘He is such a great role model for the guys,’’ Furze said.

‘‘We have looked at one of his poems in my class.’’