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21 June 2023

The young writers at St Mary’s School, Williamstown, have gone into a poetic battle at their annual poetry slam.

Hosted by hip-hop artist and poet, Mantra, the school’s poetry slam was once again included as part of the annual Williamstown Literary Festival. Beginning with a ‘sacrificial’ performance by teachers Laura and Daryl, the slam featured small groups of Year 6 students performing their original poems on a range of topics including siblings, gender equality, household chores, pencils, space and even doors.

Renowned author Andy Griffiths and spoken word poet Emilie Zoey Baker were assigned the difficult task of judging the slam. Emilie had worked with the students to develop their poems. ‘They jumped straight in and wrote their poems very quickly, then we worked on presentation and performance, and now they’re like professionals up there,’ said Emilie. ‘The students came up with their own concepts, wrote their own poems, drew from their own experiences and performed how they have decided. It’s a way of them speaking up about the things that are important to them at the moment.’