Pokhara youth celebrate poetry because ‘Kabita Is Cool’

KATHMANDU, Nov 18: Word Warriors, a spoken word poetry collective, successfully conducted a workshop for 70 young people in Pokhara. The workshop, held over two days on November 3 and 4, was part of the 'Kabita Is Cool' campaign under Word Warrior's Write to Speak project. 'Kabita is Cool' is the group's initiative to encourage poetry enthusiasts to form a community of spoken word poetry in Pokhara.

The workshop was held at Kanya Campus in Nadipur where the participants were introduced to the basics of spoken word poetry. The participants, between 14 to 25 years of age, were selected from over 100 applicants. They were divided into four groups, each one facilitated by an instructor from the Word Warriors.According to the Word Warriors, the workshop was designed to get participants to broaden their definition of poetry. Students were taught to explore poetry, moving away from the frequently touched upon themes like patriotism and nature, and to focus on themselves and their stories. Instructors also taught their groups the basics of delivering a good performance on stage.

On November 6, 20 participants from the workshop went on stage to share poems they had written. The poems touched on various themes like the current political situation, the Tihar festival, and even a poem from the perspective of a football.

Word Warriors will be mentoring a group of interested young poetry enthusiasts from the workshop. Through the Write to Speak project, they will also be carrying out intensive workshops that will go beyond the basics of spoken word poetry. The objective is to bring out various stories from young people that have never been heard before.

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