VIVI SET FOR STORYFEST
16-year-old student Vivi Baker will display her talents as a poet when she performs at the Somerset Storyfest Writer's Festival next month.
VIVI Baker may be only 16 years old but the Somerset College student has already made her mark as a respected poet.
The school captain, who said she loved bonding with younger students, will perform at Somerset Storyfest in March alongside fellow slam poet, 14-year-old Solli Raphael.
“We know each other from the 2017 Australian Poetry Slam competition and will perform together three times at the festival,” Vivi said.
“I’m both excited and nervous to perform but my friends have been really supportive.”
Performing at the Sydney Opera House two years ago put the then 14-year-old “on the map” in the poetry community.
“I entered the Australian Poetry Slam regionals for a bit of fun but then ended up moving on to the state final and from there I was off to Sydney,” she said.
“You’re vulnerable when performing the spoken word so the audience showed me a lot of energy. It was a great atmosphere.
“Performing at the Opera House was a life highlight for me, I felt so lucky to be up there.”
Writing runs in Ms Baker’s family, with her father Tim an author of six books.
“I grew up in a literary household, my parents are a big source of inspiration,” she said.
The Tugun teenager said she hoped to create her own anthology. “My favourite feeling is sharing words and stories with others,” she said.
Somerset College teacher Michael Brohier said Vivi was part of the school’s 100member strong writing club, Wordsmiths.
“Vivi is one of the most exceptional writers we’ve ever seen, so many sophisticated ideas come out of her 16-year-old brain.”
The Year 12 slam poet is one of more than 30 authors who will speak at the three-day Somerset Storyfest writers’ festival.
Previously called the Somerset Celebration of Literature, the festival runs a year-round program of events promoting reading and writing in the Gold Coast community.
Storyfest started in January with monthly HOTA (Home of the Arts) Reads workshops hosted by local writers and this month a beach library took over Surfers Paradise Sand Safari.
Somerset students got crafty in honour of the literary festival, hand-making “lending libraries” filled with books to be distributed across the Coast with the aim of reaching every suburb. As part of the festival’s facelift, a Somerset Storyfest van will launch next month to take authors to regional areas in northern New South Wales and beyond.
Somerset Storyfest writers’ festival will take place from March 20-22.