KAA Literary Festival 2023
South London slam poet Chloe Carter encourages our students to write about their identity
The KAA Literary Festival 2023 was a roaring success; with donations to the Intrepidus Trust funding a week full of guest speakers, workshops, competitions and (of course) staff fancy dress!
Monday kicked off Lit Fest with two excellent poets: Lola Oh and Princess Emmanuelle, along with numerous musicians who accompanied students’ performances of their poetry. The motion for the KS3 debate final after school was “schools should be free to invite a variety of speakers in, regardless if their speakers were controversial,” with Ms Gogarty & Mr Dickinson judging the opposition as narrow victors.
Tuesday welcomed Chloe Carter, South London’s slam poet who encouraged students to write about their identity. At lunchtime, the Wordle competition saw over thirty students battling it out for house points; the atmosphere was electric.
Critically acclaimed performance poet Suhaiymah Manzoor Khan wowed the students on Wednesday with her poetry readings and her intimate workshops with the year 10 academic society. Y8 were introduced to the media world with workshops from Mat Riches from ITV. The brilliant ‘Definamites’ lunchtime challenge brought humour and creativity to the library.
Critically acclaimed performance poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan in a workshop with the Year 10 academic society
Thursday saw world famous slam poet Harry Baker perform his award winning performance poetry. To mark International Women’s Day, Y12 were introduced to a ‘Women in the Media’ panel and a documentary creator and producer spoke to year 10 classes about her route into the media world.
The Poetry Slam was a true highlight; the winner Ayah (Y10) truly impressed the judges with her poignant, political poem about the cost of living crisis. Ayah described how much she and her classmates gained from this year’s festival:
And of course staff fancy dress ended the week in fitting fashion, with characters from the like of Mathilda, Holes and A Christmas Carol bringing much excitement to the corridors. Bring on next year…