The ISKL Slam Poetry team participated in the 4th Annual Slam Poetry Festival (SNaPs) at Sunway International School. Along with nine other international schools from around the nation (over 50 presenters in all), we went head-to-head with young, inspiring poets. We were confident our bards had written pieces that would both challenge the intellect and otherwise delight the listeners – apparently, the poets made the right choices.
Of the three events, (Juniors, Seniors, and Teams) we finished FIRST in the Junior category (Tanisha Verma), FIRST in the Senior category (Justin Woo), and third in the Teams event (Zoe Fraser, Zoe Newbolt, Anna Thorne, and Sara Balsamo). Because we finished so well in all three events, we easily took the coveted Helios Award for top international school (we’ve been chasing this award for three years and came in a close second last year).
Of course, poetry is about language, beauty, the power of spoken word, and craft, but the coach in me is very proud of not only how they read and what they wrote, but that a panel of three internationally acclaimed and published slam poets also thought our poets were more than impressive.
Congratulations to this year’s ISKL Slam team for writing well, speaking brilliantly, and representing ISKL on an international stage with grace, poise, and beauty.
Very proud of your work! ~ Grant J. Venables
