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rakhee jasani addresses the goethe institute

Eastside's Director, Rakhee Jasani recently spoke at the Goethe Institute in the Netherlands as part of an international literature seminar exploring the ways in which poetry is taught in Europe and what purpose it serves. The other speakers included representatives from Belgium, Holland, Poland, Germany and Spain, all of whom had unique perspectives on how to make poetry a core essential in the lives of young people.

The seminar was hosted by The Goethe Institute in Amsterdam and chaired by journalist and writer, Tracy Metz. Key note speakers included Prof Dr. Frans-Willem Korsten and poet/slammer Ellen Deckwitz. The seminar explored how and why poetry should be taught to young people and Rakhee's speech focused on how leading children and young people to a poetic exploration helps them not only to explore their creativity but also to understand who they are, and how they fit into their world. Citing examples from Eastside's projects including our Primary Poetry Slam and Translation Nation, Rakhee showed how children at primary school are able to connect their lives at home and at school through the medium of poetry and to find a conduit to express their feelings. Although poetry is often a solitary pursuit, Rakhee showed how Eastside's projects can enable young people to work together to find common ground, first through poetry, and then by extension to other art forms. To illustrate the point Rakhee discussed how Eastside brings together young poets and young film-makers to create spoken word films, this not only challenges the participants to address what they believe their writing / film-making is all about, but it also helps them to increase their understanding of how imagery functions both on the page and on the screen. Here you can view examples of our spoken word films made by young people. The seminar was part of the Y'Poetry project organised by the School der Poëzie in Amsterdam.