Young poets to weave their own radical message
Town’s poetry tradition lives on in youth
Express Reporter
A group of young Buddies will join Paisley’s long tradition of radical poets at this year’s Sma’ Shot Weave Festival .
This is part of a national campaign to engage young people in literature and culture.
The annual Weave Festival and Sma’ Shot Day event takes place on Saturday and will see the return of the popular Dooslan Stane stage.
This year it will welcome a group of youngsters from Paisley and further afield who are keen to carry on the town’s long history of celebrating poetry and the spoken word.
The Dooslan Stane is an important aspect of the day’s events as it has close links with the textile industry.
The stane or “stone” was once a meeting place for the Weavers Union and was used as a soapbox where the weavers could review the hot political topics of the time and air their grievances against the mill owners.
This year, it will serve as the platform for a different kind of activism as young people share their experiences in their own words.
The activity ties into the wider Year of Young People 2018 programme that aims to give young people a stronger voice on issues that affect their lives, showcase their ideas and talents, and, ultimately, create a more positive perception of them in society.
The Youth Poetry Slam is part of a wider national project – the Scottish Youth Poetry Slam – and targets educational and social disadvantage.
It breaks down barriers by using fun, youth culture to nurture language and literacy and to engage young people in literature and culture and upskill them with creative ways to manage mental health.
A group of young people from Port Glasgow High School, who won the title back in 2016, will work with young people at Create Paisley to produce work that will be performed on the day.
Renfrewshire’s Year of Young People champion, Councillor Michelle Campbell, said: “This is giving young people a constructive and creative outlet to allow them to express themselves is a great way to ensure good mental health.
“I’m sure they will produce some fantastic work and I look forward to seeing them perform.”
ConFAB arts company is responsible for delivering the national Scottish Youth Poetry Slam project and has been working with groups across Scotland.
The young people from Port Glasgow High will meet with members of Create Paisley later this week.
They will participate in a series of workshops to come up with the pieces they will perform on the day.
Create Paisley project manager Alan Clark said: “We’ve been doing a lot with young people in the community around writing and poetry in the last year or so.
“It’s particularly significant that that those participating in the Youth Poetry Slam will have a chance to perform on the Dooslan Stane stage and bring their own type or modern-day activism to the event.”
CREATE Paisley, who have collaborated with PACE Theatre Group, are producing Write Here Write Now, a Young Writers’ Festival as part of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018, which will be open to those aged eight to 26 who will create and develop new writings, focusing on plays, songwriting and poetry.
● To find out the full details and programme for this year’s Weave Festival and Sma’ Shot Day celebrations, visit www.paisley.is
For more on Write Here Write Now, check outwww. write18. com or to get more detail on the Scottish Youth Poetry Slam visit its Facebook page @sypslam