Earlier this year, Apples and Snakes and Red Room Poetry united to host a workshop for young poets aged 14-18 as part of the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival. It included Young Poet Laureate for Coventry Aamani Kanda (UK) and Australian Poetry Slam Co-Champion KJ Haywood (AUS) for an interactive look at how to craft great poetry with flint and heart.
This workshop included a reading of their poem – ‘Scars’ -Aamani and KJ have collaboratively crafted in celebration of Poetry Month and Contains Strong Language
We were so impressed with the collaboration between Aamani and KJ, not only how they managed to find common ground across a vast time zone, but also with common themes and similar ideas around the issues facing young people in society today. We decided to interview them about making a collaborative poem together, and find out a little bit more about their individual journeys into poetry so far.
You can read the full poem over at Red Room Poetry or listen to ‘Scars’ below:
Tell us a bit about yourselves
KJ: Hello! I’m K.J. Hayward, the Australian Poetry Slam Co-champion of 2023 – and I’m that spontaneous, weird type that adopts a new hobby every week only to drop it for something even more spontaneous and weird the week after. In fact, poetry is the only thing I’ve ever really stuck to!
I have been writing since I could pick up a pen. However, my career in performing ‘Slam’ is very recent. Whilst travelling Australia, I had collected all of these poems about the people I had met. One day I decided to perform them at an open mic night in my hometown where I was invited by an audience member to participate in a slam competition.
Four public performances later I had been co-crowned Australia’s National Champion and was rushed into planning for my tour and book publishing not long after! It was one whirlwind of an experience and one that certainly matches my personality.
Aamani: Hey! I’m Aamani Kanda, Coventry’s Young Poet Laureate. My poetry career started not too long ago, when I applied for this role in 2022. I like to focus on building a sense of community and connection with my poetry, which focuses on a multitude of socially inspired motifs, such as feminism and mental health. To be honest, I have always had a calling to reading, and it was a while before I realised this was accompanied by a passion for writing. Covid-19 lockdowns, in which I began to “dabble” in the occasional poem, really solidified my love for writing.
This project involved writing a collaborative poem, what was the most exciting part of collaborating with a poet from a different country? How did the process differ from your usual process of writing a poem?
KJ: Getting to know Aamani through this collaboration and connecting with her over the shared art of poetry has been both fascinating and familiar. Whilst Aamani’s style brings new perspectives, I’ve also noticed that no matter where in the world we come from, we all share the same worries, insecurities and concerns – even if we voice them differently.
Combining our ideals of body image in our joint poem felt uplifting to know that someone else had experienced similar doubts, despite our differences.
The process of writing over email and across time-zones was really interesting. Fortunately though, it wasn’t too much of an obstacle. I feel that our topic and ideas worked really well for the both of us and within days we had created the bulk of our poem. Working to someone else’s inspiration was a new experience, but it was made easy as we shared a lot of the same views. The hardest part was probably combining the separate poems we wrote into one connected story. With poetry, it’s hard to calculate where to break up the flow.
Aamani: Initially, I was concerned that KJ and I would be worlds apart due to our differing experiences with poetry. However, it was a relief to see that we could connect in ways I hadn’t considered, showing the simplicity of humanity. Working with KJ, who has a different background to mine, felt liberating. The most exciting part of working with KJ was finding levels to connect on despite the qualities that set us apart, and our poem connected us through the theme of feminism presented through body dysmorphia, a criticism of beauty standards.
The process of writing our poem did not differ too significantly from my process of writing poetry individually. Working together meant giving each other the space for enough creative liberty, whilst not straying too far from the original theme. Through our collaboration, we recognised overlaps in our writing that we wanted to highlight, which emphasised the contrast between our separate monologues.
What would be your number one tip for someone writing a collaborative poem?
KJ: … don’t wait to be given the greenlight. If you have an idea, just throw it in and work from that – you can always edit if necessary. Also, I think it’s important to not let go of your own style in an attempt to match someone else’s. Every poet presents a unique style and writes their best without any additional restrictions.
But also, don’t be too rigid. The collaboration isn’t a You vs Them situation, it’s all about teamwork!
Aamani: Get to know the people you’re collaborating with! A simple ice-breaking activity, or even just reading their personal bio to understand what their usual style is like can help you to understand one another better. Upon meeting KJ, we did an activity where we discussed what type of weather pattern matched our mood for the day: this was an excellent topic of discussion to keep the call feeling more open and personal.
You also got to facilitate a workshop together – what did you learn about co-facilitation?
KJ: I really enjoyed facilitating the workshop with Aamani. It was exciting to learn Aamani’s style through her exercise and it’s certainly a technique I’ll use again. I definitely learned that it’s important to bounce off of each other and to invite your co-facilitator into your activity as they may have some good advice to match.
Not panicking when things don’t flow with your group like you planned is also a useful tool to learn. Just move on and read your room for what catches their attention or engages them the most. I have a tendency to ramble to fill silences, but I suggest, to avoid burnout, that you take those periods to breathe and take a break.
Aamani: Co-facilitating a workshop was an awesome opportunity, and I learnt that it’s okay to lean on each other for help. KJ used her initiative to keep the workshop moving when I had technical issues, which I was so grateful for. I think facilitating this workshop taught me that it’s important to remember to ask for help when you’re overwhelmed.
What’s next for you as a poet?
KJ: As part of my tour, I performed to a group of kinder kids (3-4yrs) alongside a 7ft inflatable hippopotamus eating cake! I loved the energy in the room so much that I am looking to publish a children’s book and illustrating the poem I wrote for them. I’d love to have another written collection of my poetry published as well. Other than that I’m working on spreading my message of kindness, love and acceptance to as many people as I can, in whatever form that may take.
Aamani: As for my personal career, I hope to get more involved in the poetry scene, especially with performance poetry! I am looking to reach a stage of frequently performing and writing.
Which poet would you most love people to know about?
KJ: I resource poetry from all around the world and mostly from platforms such as YouTube, so a few of my favourites to recommend are: Sarah Kay, for her powerful yet simple imagery, Rudy Franciso, who makes love poems cool, and Australia’s own Luka Lesson, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at a writers’ festival.
Aamani: John Bernard, Coventry’s Poet Laureate. He has been such an influence on me as a newcomer to the poetry scene, and his work inspires our local youth. It’s mix of poetry and rap that carries a lot of heart and soul, and his hard work shows!
About Red Room Poetry and the artists
Red Room Poetry (RR) is Australia’s leading organisation for commissioning, creating, publishing and promoting poetry in meaningful ways. RR has a reputation for excellence and invention, delivering projects that are unparalleled in their quality, scale, professional payment of poets, cultural impact, amplification and engagement of poets, students and audiences of all ages.
Aamani Kanda is an 18 year old poet and Coventry’s Young Poet Laureate. She is inspired by the culture that surrounds her, and is passionate about representing it. Despite developing a unique style, her work is influenced by the Romantic movement.
K.J. Hayward is an emerging spoken word artist, and APS Co-champion of 2023. In her poetry, she intertwines stories of feminism, youth, mental health and her own journey transitioning from ‘normal’ schooling to Home-school with the rap, rhythm and rhyme of slam poetry.
Presented by Red Room Poetry for Poetry Month and Contains Strong Language in partnership with Apples and Snakes (UK) and Word Travels (AUS). This project is supported by the British Council.
