Poetry Lessons from Luka Lesson

From January 6–10, Australian slam poet Luka Lesson will be the visiting poet of AISG. Lesson will be spending a block with each English class during his visit, as well as delivering a school-wide assembly, and, potentially, hosting an after-school slam-poetry event. This is a great introduction for students to experience interactive poetry at its best from one of Australia’s leading artists.  Poetry slams combine performance, writing, competition and audience participation. His visit will be a great way to gain insight into Lesson’s writing style and slam poetry as a whole, and understand the powerful messages he conveys through his poems.

Visiting authors are an engaging way for students to learn about the way actual writers work and what goes on behind the scenes. Mrs. Navis, the school librarian, says that bringing in visiting authors is an “eye-opener” for students because “it’s one thing to pick up a book and read it” and another to “understand the process of what it means to be an author and how to make that your living.” One thing that Mrs. Navis has really enjoyed about past visiting authors is when they have “meaningful conversations with students.” She loves how “the authors are encouraging and supportive.” With Lesson spending time with each English class, the students will have an unparalleled opportunity to work with him in an intimate environment, which is sure to be very beneficial.

Originally starting his career in rap, Luka Lesson has moved into a successful career in slam poetry. Lesson is renowned for his powerful prose that advocates for social change and empowerment. He runs youth education programs across the globe and is very active in them: he believes it is crucial that the youth is able to have their voices and opinions heard.

Mrs. Navis is particularly excited about Luka Lesson visiting as she believes “the big thing for AISG is the spoken word component” and stresses the importance of students developing their public speaking skills. With Luka Lesson’s poems being a more modern than traditional approach to poetry, his poetry might resonate and be more engaging for students interested in multiple subject areas. The music element might be able to give new ideas to students, with Mrs. Navis saying, “kids can resonate with the rap part of it,” which could potentially open up new opportunities they’d never thought of before.

AISG is very lucky to have Luka Lesson visit in January, and Mrs. Navis hopes that at the annual poetry event next year “some kids will maybe do a little bit of slam.”

You can take a look at some of his work here