PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, June 28, Soualigan Fyah: Youth Poetry will be collaborating with Readers are Leaders and the Philipsburg Jubilee Library to host a spoken word, open mic session called You(th) Take The Mic.
You(th) Take the Mic, which is a play on words meant to encourage youngsters to step up to the open mic, is scheduled to start promptly at 4:00pm and run through 5:30pm and is open to high school aged youngsters and aims to provide them with a platform from which to perform their poetry and spoken word.
The collaboration of the three entities acknowledges the aim of each to increase of literacy amongst the youth population. Soualigan Fyah is an initiative of the 5 square miles production team. For the past four years 5 square miles has been collaborating with the Imbali Center for Creative Movement to produce Summer Speaks and Winter's Words. Soualigan Fyah is the newest venture and has as its main goal the fostering of a love for poetry and spoken word in St. Maarten's high school population. Readers are Leader, has been in existence since 2010 and has held several open mic sessions throughout those years. The organization promotes literacy through its annual reading competition and other youth related activities. The Philipsburg Jubilee Library remains a critical space for young people to engage with books and reading on the island and has graciously stepped forward to provide space for this event just as it did for Soualigan Fyah's Youth Poetry and Spoken Word Competition held earlier this year.
Youngsters from all across the island are encouraged to not only attend Friday afternoon's session, but also walk with work to read or perform.
"I know for a fact we have a lot of young people out there writing poetry or lyrics and this is most definitely a venue for them to showcase their work with an audience of their peers," Lysanne Charles, founder of 5 square miles said.
She said that along with youngsters some veteran performers would also be there including herself, Sumaiyyah tha Poet and others. A special treat for those in attendance will be the presence of Queen Godis, a Brooklyn-based, international poet and performance artist. Queen Godis is currently on island participating in Nicole De Weever's Art Saves Lives Program. When DeWeever heard about the upcoming poetry and spoken word open mic she saw it as a unique opportunity for the teenagers to connect with a person who has built a career around poetry and spoken word performance.
Charles said that she is thankful to all of the people who came together to collaborate on this event and encourages people, most especially the island's teenagers, to come out and support the venture.
"I'm aiming to start at 4pm sharp and thus far it promises to be a powerful afternoon, we already have confirmations from Soualigan Fyah's Supreme Youth Poet for 2013 Jenice Forbes, along with Andrew Peterson and Atul Pereppadan. Sumaiyahh tha Poet will also perform and of course, the mic will be open for you(th) to take," Charles said.
