Press Release - 25 April 2006

The Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 –
the Eastern Quarterfinal.

Young performance poets and rappers got an exciting opportunity to present their raw words before a live audience at Theatre Royal, Stratford East last night in the Eastern quarterfinal of the Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006.

The participants taking part were either independent performers or from Langdon School, Oaklands School, George Green School, Eastbury Comprehensive School and the Paradise Zone in East London.

One performer Navid Sheikh (12) said he had "never thought poetry could be this much fun". His fellow classmate at Oaklands School, Muazzin Aziz, (11) said "words are a more powerful and effective way to get 'gangsta wannabes' to think about their actions." Jamal Msebele, whose mother is performance poet Sifundo Msebele, enthused about living in Hackney and making your "big bubbling dreams" come true.

Sophie Lovett, a teacher at George Green School, said that the Slam Championship was "a wonderful way for pupils to put themselves in the position of Poet".

Co-ordinated by the Poetry Society and the Mayor of London, the Slam Championship is open to all young performance poets between 12 to 18 years old.

Slam is the competitive art of performance poetry where poets and rappers perform their work before a live audience and a panel of judges selected randomly from them.

The Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 is supported by the Big Lottery Fund, and the Mayor of London as part of The Rise Festival and Subtext.

-Ends-

If you would like to interview any of the performers taking part in this quarterfinal please contact 0207 420 9895 or email marketing@poetrysociety.org.uk.

To find out more about the Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 call 0207 420 9895 or email marketing@poetrysociety.org.uk.

Notes to editors

• The other regional quarterfinals are:

  • Soho Theatre (Western quarterfinal): 19 April 2006 at 7pm
  • Jacksons Lane Theatre (Northern quarterfinal): 26 April 2006 at 7pm
  • Unicorn Theatre (Southern quarterfinal): 28 April 2006 at 7pm
• The Big Lottery Fund distributes half of all National Lottery good cause funding across the UK. The Fund aims to enable others to make real improvements to the lives of disadvantaged people and the well being of communities, through fair and open funding of people, projects and programmes. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
• The rise: London United music festival, is the largest anti-racism festival in Europe and urges all communities to rise against prejudice. The event will take place in Finsbury Park on Saturday 8 July. It is a free music, dance and comedy event organised by the Mayor of London, which celebrates the city's diversity and its status as a great multicultural city with an active commitment to eliminating racism. Press information is available by calling Rachelle Laurence on 020 7983 4068. Public information is available at www.risefestival.org
• The Big Lottery Fund distributes half of all National Lottery good cause funding across the UK. The Fund aims to enable others to make real improvements to the lives of disadvantaged people and the well being of communities, through fair and open funding of people, projects and programmes. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
• The rise: London United music festival, is the largest anti-racism festival in Europe and urges all communities to rise against prejudice. The event will take place in Finsbury Park on Saturday 8 July. It is a free music, dance and comedy event organised by the Mayor of London, which celebrates the city's diversity and its status as a great multicultural city with an active commitment to eliminating racism. Press information is available by calling Rachelle Laurence on 020 7983 4068. Public information is available at www.risefestival.org