Young poets open up to playfulness

Poet Bill Manhire is championing the talents of young Kiwi writers. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Bill Manhire, poet and director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University, attributes the shut-down of adolescent creativity to embarrassment and a desire to fit in.

This was compounded by the teaching of difficult, complex and obscure literary texts, Manhire said.

"It's as if kids were born with enormous creative capacity and then, when they're about 12, it drifts away."

Manhire believes creativity is vital to the culture of the country.

"New Zealanders' creative energy is at its highest when choosing the names for race horses. If the same kind of energy went into running our businesses and leading our lives we'd be unbeatable."

Playfulness with words is however being fostered in schools and the standard of poetry at this year's Bell Gully National Schools' Poetry Award is "very, very high".

Six finalists, chosen from 200 Year 12 and 13 students, were announced yesterday in the run-up to National Poetry Day on Friday.

The poems, unlike the personal, soul-searching efforts of the past, are light hearted, often funny but with depth and exciting use of language.

"They're not just spilling their guts," said Manhire. "They've got the ability to make the words perform, rather than just sit on the page."

One of the six finalists, Russell Kale, of Hastings, said that he was hooked onto poetry by his Year nine English teacher.

"I just finally found something I'm good at and I enjoy doing," he said.

The 17-year-old's favourite poets are Glenn Colquhoun, Robert Frost and Hinemoana Baker.

His hobbies, apart from writing, are falling off surfboards, mountain biking, photography and movies.

Next year, when he finishes school he'll head for one of the Arts subjects at Victoria University, maybe film. Then maybe he will "slip into Bill Manhire's writing class unnoticed. And maybe I'll end up on a bookshelf sometime."

"Most of the time I write when something occurs to me, says Kale. "I'm a love poet, I write love poems till my arms fall off."

"But what about your finalist poem, History?" (See right).

"I guess it's kind of a self-love poem."

The appearance of creative writing on the high school curriculum, coupled with people such as Manhire, are pouring new energy into the literary arts, and encouraging adolescents to hold on to their creative playfulness.

What's happening though, says Manhire, is that the country is now full of anxious teachers who have to teach kids to write stories and poems. But help is at hand.

Next month's Schools Writing Festival workshop in Wellington, which follows the announcement of the Poetry Award on August 19, will include a workshop for teachers.

Finalists - the 2005 shortlist

* My Poetry Teacher: Jessie Hendy, Year 12, Taradale High School, Napier

* Under the trees: Liu Guanting, Year 13, St Cuthberts College, Auckland

* Ball Game: Selina Powell, Year 13, Wellington High School, Wellington

* Travel Log: Melissa Chen, Year 13, Epsom Girls Grammar School, Auckland

* History: Russell Kale, Year 13, Karamu High School, Hastings

* Chain of Fools: Kirsti Whalen, Year 12, Epsom Girls Grammar School, Auckland

History

Russ Kale is the third denizen of the amber sunset.
Russ Kale is pushing the boundaries of the underwater experience.
He is significantly monotonous, but sleeps in class anyway.
Russ Kale has broken the nose of society to spite its face.
Russ Kale has yet to arrive at a conclusion.
He lives in a cocoon of ice-coated steel.
Russ dangles from rooftops, watches palm fronds and Amelie
projected onto grey-cloud screens.
Russ Kale knows where to get the best seat in the stratosphere.
Russ Kale does not return his videos on time.
Russ Kale becomes distorted at the edges,
Just past the point where the volleyballers
Play on the beaches of the island,
And hot-air balloons mark the road

- by Russell Kale
Karamu High School, Hastings

* The Poetry Award winner will be announced on August 19, in Wellington. It precedes the Bell Gully National Schools Writing Festival workshop for teachers as well as students, over the weekend of August 20-21 at Victoria University.