Poems in a Pandemic

Schools overcome COVID with Online Competition

Wednesday 20th May at 3.30 pm – Facebook – bit.ly/wordsworldlive YouTube – bit.ly/wordsworldtube

● 22 school students from across Klang Valley will take part in an online poetry competition.
● Esteemed Malaysian judges will award prizes, sponsored by Mindvalley.
● Viewers are encouraged to cheer on the young poets during the live event.

Klang Valley, Malaysia – With school events cancelled across the globe, Rafflesia International School, Kajang is forging ahead with their Words for Our Word poetry slam by hosting it online. Guest judges include Dhinesha Karthigesu , Malaysian National Poetry Slam Champion and host of The Creative Curry Podcast alongside Emily Thomas , co-founder of MY Poetry School , poet , educator and professional clown . The event will be co-hosted by Year 11 student Twilight Siew and Rafflesia English Teacher Cat Brogan – a BBC Edinburgh Fringe Slam Winner and TEDx speaker who came to Malaysia in 2016 funded by the British Council to research spoken word education.

Principal Andrew Crompton commented “We are delighted to welcome young poets from different parts of the Klang Valley into our online community for this event; we are excited to explore our creative potential in technology as well in poetry. While we might be physically distant, we ill be socially close!”

With school closures, it is challenging to produce opportunities for young people to hear each other’s stories, share ideas and achieve success. Virtual, live events have become the new normal, along with online lessons. Words for our World presents a blueprint for how students can connect virtually, attract a wide audience and generate a permanent record of their creativity.

In line with Rafflesia’s Go Green initiative, the theme encourages environmentally conscious performances that allow young people to offer their perspective on our world. There are two individual categories for students 14 years old and above and those 13 years old and below, as well as a group category where up to 5 people can perform together as a team.

The audience can comment positively throughout the show to simulate the atmosphere of a live audience and to cheer on the young poets. Judges will join the live broadcast throughout and announce the winners at the end of each category. Students from Rafflesia’s Kajang and Puchong campuses will compete against individual entrants as well as young people representing HELP International School, Sekolah Dato’ Abdul Razak and Sunway International School.