Press Release - 27 April 2006

The Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 –
the Northern Quarterfinal.

Young performance poets and rappers got an exciting opportunity to present their raw words before a live audience at Jackson's Lane Theatre last night in the Northern quarterfinal of the Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006.

The participants taking part were either independent performers or from Greenford High School, South Camden Community College, KORI Cultural Arts Club, Holloway School, Wentworth College, Kingsmead School, Bonuspastor School and WAC Performing Arts and Media College.

The power of words was made startlingly clear to the audience as 18 year old Chris Preddie performed a moving account of the "street politics he was exposed to" and the brother who had "gone down in the dust". At the age of 22 Chris's brother had been the victim of a fatal shooting incident. Until then crime had played a major part in Chris's life, but the death of his brother made him realise that this was not the direction he wanted to go in. Chris is now a youth worker and is determined to be a positive role model for other young people. As he says his "voice is now his tool".

Co-ordinated by the Poetry Society and the Mayor of London, the Slam Championship is open to all young performance poets between 12 to 18 years old.

Slam is the competitive art of performance poetry where poets and rappers perform their work before a live audience and a panel of judges selected randomly from them.

The Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 is supported by the Big Lottery Fund, and the Mayor of London as part of The Rise Festival and Subtext.

-Ends-

If you would like to interview any of the performers taking part in this quarterfinal please contact 0207 420 9895 or email marketing@poetrysociety.org.uk.

To find out more about the Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2006 call 0207 420 9895 or email marketing@poetrysociety.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

• The other regional quarterfinals are:
  • Soho Theatre (Western quarterfinal): 19 April 2006 at 7pm
  • Theatre Royal Stratford East (Eastern quarterfinal): 24 April 2006 at 7pm
  • Unicorn Theatre (Southern quarterfinal): 28 April 2006 at 7pm
• The Big Lottery Fund distributes half of all National Lottery good cause funding across the UK. The Fund aims to enable others to make real improvements to the lives of disadvantaged people and the well being of communities, through fair and open funding of people, projects and programmes. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
• The rise: London United music festival, is the largest anti-racism festival in Europe and urges all communities to rise against prejudice. The event will take place in Finsbury Park on Saturday 8 July. It is a free music, dance and comedy event organised by the Mayor of London, which celebrates the city's diversity and its status as a great multicultural city with an active commitment to eliminating racism. Press information is available by calling Rachelle Laurence on 020 7983 4068. Public information is available at www.risefestival.org
• The Big Lottery Fund distributes half of all National Lottery good cause funding across the UK. The Fund aims to enable others to make real improvements to the lives of disadvantaged people and the well being of communities, through fair and open funding of people, projects and programmes. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
• The rise: London United music festival, is the largest anti-racism festival in Europe and urges all communities to rise against prejudice. The event will take place in Finsbury Park on Saturday 8 July. It is a free music, dance and comedy event organised by the Mayor of London, which celebrates the city's diversity and its status as a great multicultural city with an active commitment to eliminating racism. Press information is available by calling Rachelle Laurence on 020 7983 4068. Public information is available at www.risefestival.org