The Year in Education
In 2024, we've expanded and built on our poetic learning offerings with Baraya Barray ~ Whale Song, POEM FOREST and new resources. We're proud of a year filled with poetry, education, connection to Country and First Languages. These are some of our highlights from this year:
- February: Our Teacher's Professional Development workshops with Aunty Charmaine Papertalk Green during the NGA bi-annual National Visual Art Education Conference
- March: The Poetry in First Languages Gundungurra workshops which created 42 new student poems and five community member poem for the Bowral Hospital Project led by Kirli Saunders
- April: The launch of the 4th year of Poem Forest with 4 new commissions, downloadable learning resource and digital POEM FOREST workshops taught by poets Jacqueline Suskin, Tamryn Bennett, Tyberius Larking and Kirli Saunders attracting 9,000+ students
- May, June, July: 80+ new Baraya Barray ~ Whale Song poems created across three language groups during Whale Migration, plus:
- 5 three day workshops
- 4 new whale dances and songs created by students
- 3 new sonic poem commissions
- 3 new poem commissions by Kirli Saunders, Aunty Barbara Nicholson and Kaitlen Wellington
- August: A new learning resource developed with the National Gallery of Australia, focusing on the intersection between visual art and poetry with poets Barrina South and Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss
- September: Poem Forest 2024 closed with 5,400+ new POEM FOREST poems, resulting in 5,400 new seedlings on Dharawal and Wodi Wodi Country
- October: POEM FOREST represented at the Global Nature Positive Summit
- November: celebrating our POEM FOREST shortlist and winners with a digital ceremony, brilliant media coverage, and the gorgeous Winners Announcement Ceremony on Dharawal and Wodi Wodi Country in Wollongong
These projects are carried by so many people – Elders, poets, partners, parents, teachers, community and beyond. We are grateful to them and our team, including outgoing POEM FOREST co-producers Lorin Reid and Natalie Bühler as well as our incoming producer Luke Patterson and Artistic Director - First Nations Nicole Smede, who have carried Baraya Barray ~ Whale Song through this year and will keep growing the POEM FOREST in 2025 and beyond. We're so grateful as well to our fabulous team of editorial interns – Alisha Brown, Grace Roodenrys and Eartha Davis – without whom the POEM FOREST could not have grown this year.
-
Baraya Barray - Whale Song
Baraya Barray is a cultural immersion experience for young First Nations people, celebrating First Languages through the creation of poetry, song and dance. -
POEM FOREST
POEM FOREST is a free nature writing prize that breathes life back into the natural world that sustains us. Entries now open! -
Poetry in First Languages
Celebrating culture through poetry, music, dance and art, PIFL supports students to find strength in their cultural identities through language learning and connecting to Country, Culture and Community. -
POEM FOREST—Global Nature Positive Summit
POEM FOREST - A nature-poetry prize for school students. -
Poetic Learning Resources
Red Room Poetry's learning resources are developed in consultation with professional poets and educators to enrich cross-curriculum outcomes and learning across a range of classroom contexts.
We wouldn't be here without you. If you love what Red Room Poetry does, consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue seed our growing projects by providing free resources, workshops and engagement for young poets across the continent.