Deaf share enjoyment of poetry

Zane Hema (left) and Catherine Winfrey at the sign poetry event. Photo / Stephen Parker

Poetry enthusiasts from around the country have travelled to Rotorua to take part in the annual Sign Poetry Festival.

The full-day event on Saturday featured workshops, an open-mic session, guest speakers and performances by internationally known poets.

The festival was organised by the Lamp Trust Aotearoa and chairman and event creative director Sam Hema said it was a great chance to hear some original work.

"It was a very successful event this year and everybody said they enjoyed themselves and would love to see it happen again."

The event is part of the Ministry of Social Development's "Think Differently" campaign and endeavours to change attitudes and behaviours towards disabled people.

Mr Hema said when people heard of the event, they often "starting raising their eyebrows".

"When we proposed the idea to the Ministry of Social Development, they were really excited because the idea was new, unique, and out of the box. It is about connecting the hearing and non-hearing communities through the creative arts.

"The morning and afternoon workshops were key as it set the tone for the event and had everyone engaging and interacting with each other."

The slam poetry competition featured spoken word entries that Mr Hema said "connected well with the youth of Aotearoa".

"Spoken word poetry is very raw and organic and is quite close in style to 'street poetry'. We had performers who both spoke and signed their poetry, and we also had professional sign language interpreters who accompanied each act.

"It is a very powerful way of telling stories and the interest in this type of poetry is growing by the year," Mr Hema said. "We definitely want to see this event happening on an annual basis as there is huge support for it and it is a great way to bring the community together."