Poet Caleb Femi named first young people's laureate for London
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Version 0 of 1. Poet and English teacher Caleb Femi, who has just been named the first young people’s laureate for London, is hoping to re-engage disenfranchised young people through poetry. The 26-year-old from Peckham was chosen for the role by a panel including the Poetry Society and the Forward Arts Foundation. He will hold the position for a year, during which time he will set out to give Londoners aged between 13 and 25 a “platform to voice their concerns and experiences through poetry”, said Spread the Word, London’s writer development agency, announcing its choice of laureate. Femi, who stopped teaching at the end of the summer term, said he was ready to give the laureate role “my all”. “I hope to re-engage young people, who have long been disenfranchised, through poetry,” said the poet. “I don’t see it as far-fetched to normalise poetry among all demographics of young people in London. Poetry is the one of the purest forms of conversation. At its best, it allows us to communicate from an honest and safe place. And young people deserve to be included in such spaces.” Femi’s projects will include heading a panel of judges in a new competition, the Young People’s Poetry prize, co-hosting the Young People’s PoetryLab, and showcasing the best new written and spoken word poetry at the Young People’s Poetry Salon at the end of his tenure. Spread the Word, which created the young people’s laureate for London programme, said it was “clear there is a cultural gap to plug” among young people, pointing to research showing that engagement in cultural activities sharply declined from the age of 16, and that 16 to 25-year-old Londoners in paid employment or training, or on apprenticeship and internship programmes, were 66% more likely to have been to the theatre in the past year, compared to 44% of those not in education, employment or training. “London is one of most exciting cities in the world for arts and culture, yet engagement among young people with what is on offer remains low, partly due to economic barriers and access,” said Spread the Word director Ruth Harrison. “This is why London deserves a dynamic young people’s laureate, who will have a positive impact on our young people’s lives. Caleb Femi’s work is exciting, authentic, sophisticated and accessible. Most of all, he has a genuine desire to help young people discover their own voice in poetry.” Poet Jacob Sam-La Rose, who helped select Femi for the position, said that he hoped the new laureate would encourage more young men to engage with poetry. “As a teacher, Caleb Femi already has practical experience supporting young people’s development, and he has the potential to be a galvanising force,” said Rose. Femi told the Guardian he felt the role “would be a really good way of merging my passion for working with young people with my passion for poetry, outside of an academic structure”. He added that he hoped it would “allow them to be able to speak, and show them how their voices can be heard through poetry”. The poet and chair of this year’s Forward prize for poetry, Malika Booker said: “Poetry enables young people to articulate experiences they find difficult to speak about. It demands inner reflection, empathy and observation to help mine the raw materials needed to create ideas and to write. These are essential life skills that can be transferred to all areas of a young person’s life. When Caleb Femi visits schools, he will be both a role model and an advocate for poetry and young people, by letting them know that they matter.” Spread the Word’s young people’s laureate initiative, which is funded by the Foundation for FutureLondon, follows the young poet laureate for London scheme, a position held in the past by Warsan Shire, the Somali-British poet who hit the headlines for her role in Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade, as well as Aisling Fahey and Selina Nwulu. |