On March 17, YCIS Beijing was visited by award winning Australian performance poet Philip Wilcox. As the third author to speak to our students during the Bookworm Literary Festival, Philip captured everyone’s attention with his spoken word poetry, demonstrating that poetry doesn’t exist solely in books but is also a form of performance art.

The event started with various Secondary Students presenting their favourite works by notable poets as well as a powerful original piece written and performed by Hope Evans. Following the student presentations, Philip took to the stage and gave captivating renditions of his most well-known poems, followed by engaging students in creating a communal poem made up of selected input from students under the theme of “everybody knows that…”. During the final section of the event, Philip opened up the floor to a Q&A session, allowing students to get insight and advice into the life and mind of a poet. When asked “what is poetry to you?”, Philip replied “People often think of poetry as a romantic thing, but it isn’t really at all. Poetry is just telling the truth and hopefully saying something that connects with people.”

The session left students with a new definition of what poetry is, how it can be created, and the fun that can be had by playing with the rules of the English language. To find out about other author visits and upcoming events at YCIS Beijing, please follow the link.