Johannesburg
Our inaugural Poetry NonScenes workshop took place at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre in April 2024, in collaboration with the South African Poetry Project (ZAPP). The event brought together school learners, university students and working professionals from a range of different social and cultural backgrounds. What united the group was a shared passion for writing and performing poetry.
The day began with a tour of the Centre. This introduced the participants to the themes they would be engaging with throughout the day: community, memory and diversity.
NonScenes co-director Adam Levin then led the participants in an exercise where they discussed and engaged with the issue of xenophobia through poetry. Under the guidance of slam coach and Poetry ZA founder Mandi Vundla, and ZAPP director/NonScenes co-director Deirdre Byrne, the participants then created poems which responded to the visual and written elements of the JHGC's permanent exhibition which connects the histories of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda to contemporary human rights issues. The day ended with the participants performing their poems to a live audience. Many of the learners enjoyed the experience so much that they chose to perform multiple poems!
Pretoria
Our second Poetry NonScenes workshop took place at the University of Pretoria in April 2024, in collaboration with the South African Poetry Project (ZAPP). The workshop brought together students from a range of different disciplines and backgrounds, all of whom were connected by a shared love for poetry and performance.
​
​
​
​
​​
​
The workshop was shaped and guided by a range of themes: the question of why 'struggle' dominates literature, the potential of poetry in future building, and the power of the body. The leaders for this workshop were ZAPP director/NonScenes co-director Deirdre Byrne and poet and children's book author, Jolene Raison. Deirdre and Jolene drew on the workshop themes to engage the participants in explorations of metaphor in poetry, and introduced them to the work of sensational contemporary South African poets such as Lebo Mashile.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​
The day concluded with a showcase in the university's library where our exceptional aspiring poets got to share their work with their peers. As with the Johannesburg event, many of the participants were so inspired that they chose to perform multiple poems! Through the workshops, NonScenes and ZAPP also gained some wonderful new members who have been with us ever since!
​
To catch the performances from this workshop, please visit the Pretoria Performances page.
​
​
Makhanda
In collaboration with the South African Poetry Project (ZAPP), our workshop in Makhanda took place at the Amazwi Literary Museum in April 2025. Our participants were learners from four high schools in the area. Over a period of two days, the participants were mentored by a range of the Eastern Cape's finest poets and practitioners. During three daily sessions, they were guided in developing their skills as poetry writers and performers, while also learning about the processes involved in publishing poetry and engaging with genres such as hip-hop.
​
​
​
​
The event concluded with a showcase where the participants performed their poetry for members of the wider Makhanda community. What was special about this showcase was how many of these community members themselves became part of the showcase. There were many spontaneous performances that made the viewing experience dynamic, captivating, surprising and engaging. Many of the young poets elected to perform in isiXhosa rather than English. This was particularly significant given NonScene's mandate to extend the profile of indigenous languages and multilingualism in performance. Our hope for the future is to publish a further Poetry NonScenes anthology, with the emphasis primarily on the Xhosa poetry created by the participants.
​
To catch the performances from this workshop, please visit the Makhanda performances page
​
​
​
Collaboration With Youth Speaks
In collaboration with ZAPP, NonScenes embarked on its first international collaboration with Youth Speaks, an American youth poety education organization. Over a period of two Saturday evenings, a specially selected group of high school learners from Johannesburg engaged with young adults from various parts of the United States through a Zoom online workshop. The workshop focused on creating poetry through cultural exchange.
​
​
​
​
​
As part of the workshop, the participants were tasked with exchanging photographs with one another which represented their understandings of their respective identities and homelands. They were then asked to write and share poems in which they used the photographs to reflect on one another's unique cultural experiences. Through these poetic interactions, the participants connected with one another in profound and meaningful ways.
​
​
​
This workshop experience culminated in a showcase which was held at Bunnaqurs Cafe in Norwood. During the showcase, the Johannesburg participants got to perform the poems they produced at the workshop, as well as a selection of poems they had written and performed at previous events. To watch a selection of these performances, please go to the Johannesburg performances page.
​
