Jamshedpur: The Society for Promotion of Promotional Excellence (SPPE), in association with the British Council, organized a workshop on poetry writing with Selina Nwulu (a Young Poet Laureate from London) on Tuesday. A one day event was planned by CFE on her visit to Jamshedpur.
Selina is a writer, social researcher and campaigner with a focus on social and environmental justice, education and global politics. She has recently finished her tenure as Young Poet Laureate for London.
Her debut collection, The Secrets I Let Slip, was published by Burning Eye Books in 2015 and is a Poetry Book Society (PBS) recommendation.
She has worked in a number of social policy roles for various non-profit institutions like UN Women, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Capacity Global (an environmental think tank) and currently at RSA.
Selina believes that art (in her case poetry) can be a major tool, a gizmo to bring social reforms. She has toured globally for her work, and operated in outlets including The Guardian, Red Pepper, Sable Litmag and The Free Word Centre. She has been honored as the Young Poet Laureate for London 2015-16. In India, she is touring Chandigarh, New Delhi, Kolkata and Jamshedpur for readings.
The poet had hosted a one hour workshop on writing skills with the school students in the morning. Total number of students participated were 27, from class VIII – XI, from various schools across Jamshedpur: Motilal Nehru Public School, ADLS Sunshine School, Loyola School and Kerala Samajam Model School. Participation certificates were distributed to the students.
In the evening, there was a performance reading session by Selina, followed by an interactive session with the audience. The event was witnessed by the school students, parents, members The Society for Promotion of Professional Excellence and other invited guests. Participation certificates were distributed to the students who attended the workshop in the morning.
On her work, Selina Nwulu says: �I think art which in my case is poetry can be a massive and powerful tool of social change that I use as often as possible for this reason. As such, much of my poetry touches on social and environmental justice as well as identity, nostalgia and belonging.�
Alan Gemmell OBE, Director British Council India says: �We are delighted to welcome Selina Nwulu to India and hope audiences in India will enjoy her performance poetry. We are also happy to partner with the Centre of Excellence.
Through our work in literature we connect writers and readers in UK and India, creating links through cultural relations.�