Poetic Unity - giving a voice to the voiceless

May 21

‍ ‍*Click on the image to go to their website!*

ABOUT

Poetic Unity is a Black-led charity founded in 2015 that provides spaces for learning, expression and joy through poetry. Based in Brixton, Poetic Unity offers a service by the community, for the community, predominately supporting young people of Black and mixed-Black heritage, aged 10-30. Their work centres the needs and experiences of the young people they support, recognising poetry as a therapeutic tool that unites and heals communities, celebrates identity and challenges injustice

From Brixton to the world. Poetic Unity works locally and internationally, amplifying suppressed voices and creating safe spaces of connectivity. Through targeted education, employment, social justice, and mental health support, they are transforming spaces of harm to be spaces of healing and development.

WHAT THEY DO

GIVE A VOICE TO THE VOICELESS

In society young people are often silenced and ridiculed for their views. Poetic Unity believes its critical that young people have a voice, so they create safe and friendly environments for young people to express themselves and feel valued in the community.

LIVED EXPERIENCE TO UNLOCK POTENTIAL

The team comes with lived experience of being marginalised and uses this understanding to inform the way they work. Their approach makes mainstream education more engaging, helps to improve behaviour and equips young people with skills that will serve them throughout their lives.

IMPROVE MENTAL WELLBEING

Poetic Unity provides programmes to educate young people on mental health and support them with holistic methods such as writing poetry, to help them face their issues in a safe environment.

*Click on the image to check out their different programs!*

BOOK A POET

Are you looking for entertainment for your next conference, corporate event, film screening, charity event or work party? Book a poet handpicked by Poetic Unity who reflects the values Poetic Unity champions, delivering powerful performances tailored to the needs of your event that inspire and engage audiences. To find a poet that best suits your needs, click on this link. Please note you can watch poetry performance videos of each poet by clicking on the image of the poet you would like to book!

POETIC RISE

Poetic Unity and R.I.S.E received a New Conversations grant from the British Council, the High Commission of Canada in the UK, and Farnham Maltings. The grant supported us to collaborate on a project that saw 3 young poets from R.I.S.E travel to London, UK between May 27th – June 2nd 2019 and 3 young poets from Poetic Unity travel to Toronto, Canada between September 26th – October 4th 2019. The poets visited each others countries for one week and performed at each others events, delivered workshops to young people, and facilitated a knowledge exchange to learn from each other and create more impact in different communities.

It was an amazing exchange which showed just how similar the Brixton and Scarborough communities are even though they are worlds apart. This exchange connected with some incredible people and has helped create a lifelong connection with R.I.S.E which will continue to build on for years to come. Watch the videos below to see some of the highlights!

For much more videos click right here!

CONTACT THEM AND/OR DONATE?

Thank you! (Back)

Benne van der Velde

After thoroughly enjoying the Dutch slam poetry scene in the early and mid 2000s (with wins in 7 cities and eventually a place in the Nationals of 2012) and performances at the Lowlands-, Uitmarkt- and Parade festivals a/o, Benne successfully made the transition from the stage to paper by signing his first publishing deal in 2005. Since then 4 publishing houses (kleine Uil, Douane, Nadorst and Stanza) released volumes of his poetry. For a 5th (Passage) he co-edited an anthology of satirical/pamphlet poetry with fellow poets Daniel Dee and Alexis de Roode.

As a member of the artist movement ‘Het Ongeboren Idee’ he helped to organize (and was part of/presented) cultural lo-fi festivals, exhibitions, making a movie, monthly poetry stages in his hometown of Vlaardingen (Poezie in De Steeg), Rotterdam (De Poetsclub) and Nijmegen (Late Letteren Live) + a talent show for bands.

In 2002 and 2003 he studied ‘writing for performance’ at the vocational university of the Arts in the city of Utrecht (HKU) and as a result saw 3 of his theater plays make it to a stage. Writer Hiekelien van den Herik and he co-wrote a knight spectacle play complete with real choreographed sword fights, men in heavy plate armor and more great stuff like that. Theater-/enactment group Ridderspoor performed said play in 2004 and 2005 at Het Archeon, during De Kasteeldagen and at an Elfia-fantasy fair. He also gave numerous poetry and rap workshops at schools and other institutions. There were a lot of collabs too, for example voice-over work for a Rock Opera, a monumental art project for which he partnered up with the artist Erwin Adema and thrice alongside the R.J.S.O (The Rotterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra).

Benne has been an editor for several literary magazines (Krakatau, Renaissance and Op Ruwe Planken), at one time he and his wife owned a secondhand bookstore, he’s been the official poet laureate for his hometown of Vlaardingen and released his first and only Dutch rap-EP in 2011. In 2012 he rapped his way into the finals of Art Rocks. An EP with songs in English followed in 2021. A year later he started translating Dutch musical and lyrical classics from Dutch into English, and vice versa. Some of his short sci-fi and fantasy stories have found their way to medium related websites, magazines and anthology’s.

According to the poet himself rewriting his own poetry, lyrics and prose in English somehow feels like the next logical step in his career, a way to open up to the world at large. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying. So far several of these translations have been published in Bebarbar, Hare’s paw, Festivalforpoetry, Punt Volat, The Dewdrop, The Dillydoun Review and Months to Years a/o.

In everyday (some claim real) life he worked as an industrial tank cleaner, in pest control, on a garbage truck, driving a forklift, in a chemical waste facility, on a Ferry and 10 years as a bartender in a cannabis bar. At the time of writing this resume he can be found at home or in the hospital battling throat cancer. He’s been off the Herb since 2008, has a wife, 2 dogs, mild anxiety issues and likes to read every sci-fi and fantasy classic he can find.

www.linkedin.com/in/benne-van-der-velde-8b17a7296

The poet/lyricist and author Rob Chrispijn: ‘Benne writes sentences that stick; clean, dark and intense. This way a poem lasts!’

The poet Philip Hoorne on the website Poetry rapport: ‘There’s a genius hiding in Benne van der Velde, those are the Good Tidings of today. Amen.’

https://www.doubledutchmagazine.com