We Are Poets Documentary and Leeds Young Authors

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we are poets


Guest blog by Paula Temple

Hands up if you were at the special preview night of We Are Poets documentary at the Leeds Town Hall? Now that is a lot of hands. I was lucky enough to watch We Are Poets, an amazing film all about the journey of six young talented poets from Leeds Young Authors competing at Brave New Voices in Washington DC (the most prestigious poetry slam in the world). To make the night even more special was Benjamin Zephaniah, hosting a Q&A session with the crew and live performances from the emerging talent at Leeds Young Authors. WOW!

It was a fantastic night and I loved the film; it moved me in so many ways that I want to tell everyone to go and see it. This is passion and heart through the art of poetry and the art of film making coming together. I was particularly curious because I had met one of the film makers, Alex, five years ago at a Leeds Young Authors annual poetry slam, when he had just started filming. Yes, that is five years of pure dedication into this film. Alex captured my imagination when he told me back then how much he wanted to present these remarkable young talents through moving image. Within the opening sequences I was immediately absorbed, seeing the streets of Leeds and hearing the young voices and their powerful words.

If the desired effect was to make people cry I think they filled a lot of buckets! I filled two. And that was just in the first five minutes! However, this film takes you through a whole lot more, as we followed the emotional roller coaster journey, determination and achievements of these six inspirational poets. It was really impressive how the film had been edited, with humour making the whole Town Hall laugh, and the moments of intensity when Joseph and Maryam took the courage to sharpen up and perform their poem ‘America’.

Also fantastic about this documentary, is showing the world that this is not London, this is from Leeds! It is really important to highlight this. Many young people here in Leeds and in the north of England are very aware that opportunities are scarce. They are often told that if you want to make something of yourself then you need to go to London. This film shows that there is something inspirational right here in our neighbourhood, that there is a reason to commit to education, to enhance your literacy, to think critically, and that poetry can be accessible to everyone.

We are in a time when voices are being squashed as cuts are being made to education and the arts. If you don’t have the money it is harder than ever to enter higher education. Civil liberties and opportunities are stripped away in the name of austerity with devastating effects (just look at last year’s riots). Yet, despite the increasing pressures of less funding, Leeds Young Authors have managed to maintain a platform for young people to have their own voice, to recognise they can be heard, and that performing poetry transforms the dimensions of their words to move people into positive action, into solidarity.

I cannot help but admire the founder Khadijah and all the people who mentor at Leeds Young Authors for the self-belief and possibilities they continuously open up for young people. It is the determination of Khadijah and Paulette that has kept their projects going, despite funders’ and the local authority’s fetish to only support ‘new’. It is such a shame that the local authorities do not give better financial support recognising the long lasting impact Leeds Young Authors have on children and young people. The six individuals featured in the film represent only a tiny fraction of the young people that have had their life paths changed thanks to Khadijah, Paulette and their team.

Tom Riordan, the CEO of Leeds City Council, wants Leeds to be the best city for children and young people – he has a long way to go. But right here and right now, there is Leeds Young Authors. I hope that those who can afford to will donate to make sure Leeds Young Authors can continue to send more young role models from Leeds to America for many years to come.



Paula Temple is a DJ, music producer and former social entrepreneur.  She is one half of the musical duo Spank Protest. www.paulatemple.com or tweet @Paulatemple

3 comments

  1. This film made me so proud. It made me think of my young kids and their futures. It gave me hope. It made me think of what a Poet was, and how instrumental having a voice is to people and their self esteem. The first moment I sucked back a sob was when I saw ‘poet’ tattooed on the wrist on one of the young authors. From then on I was completely lost and happy to be so.

    Earlier in the week Tom Riordan (mentioned above) asked ‘What can Leeds be famous for?’ Those words had been bothering me for many reasons throughout the week. This city is always searching for some thing to hang it’s coat off, yet it’s all right here under our noses. We have amazing people, doing stuff with passion, without money, but because they care. Leeds Young Authors blew me away with their talent, dedication, warmth and humanity. It’s the kind of well made film with a great story that makes me want to see every executive & trustee on Leeds City Region, Marketing Leeds, Hoteliers Association, LCC Scrutiny Board, Visit Leeds, Welcome to Yorkshire (get the picture yet?) watch the film. When they watch the film they’ll have the answer to their question, finally they may understand why arts & culture can be really transformative in society. They may then stop looking for the ‘big’ stuff to answer the question of ‘What can Leeds be famous for’ and concentrate on supporting the people who help young and old alike to express themselves creatively.

    This film made want to wear my heart on my sleeve. As role models they make ‘giving a shit and giving it your all’ properly cool.

  2. Great post Paula about a quite brilliant and inspiring film that I was lucky enough to see and advance copy of and meet We are Poets.

    As I was mentioned twice above I should also say that the “Best” tag isn’t just mine, but more importantly the city partnership’s ambition. We do have a long way to go on the child-friendly city stuff, though we’ve just come out of special measures and young people achieved the best ever exam results. Lots more to do.

    Although the question was asked by Thompsons the media company, I felt it was a thought-provoking one for twitter and so it proved with over a hundred posts. Many of these made the point that we don’t shout loudly enough about what we’ve got – hence the changes to Marketing Leeds – and I totally agree that this film would be an excellent advert for our young talent in Leeds. Even better that those young people come from Chapeltown and Harehills and can show other young people in the city a thing or two.

    Best bit for me is the “West Yorkshire, not London” loud and proud message from the poets. More of that Leeds attitude is what we need to achieve our ambitions.

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