A Poetry Workshop w/ Api Taylor!

 Api (Apirana) Taylor is a New Zealand-born poet, writer and actor of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Ruanui descent. Residing in Wellington, New Zealand, Api travels internationally sharing his poetry as well as within New Zealand and Australia. On Wednesday April 3rd, Hornby High School seniors and the English Scholarship Pathway students were fortunate enough to attend an interactive poetry reading (and music session!) hosted by Api Taylor himself. Furthermore, after the reading, English Scholarship students attended a workshop with Api. 


The workshop

This was a very interesting experience, it was most definitely very unique, in contrast to other poetry readings and workshops I've attended. 
"Writing makes you strong." were the first words Api greeted us with. A very powerful statement to begin with, might I add. Api then encouraged us to ponder this thought for a moment - why does writing make you strong? Donning pens and paper we eagerly wrote down our thoughts and opinions on exactly why writing makes you strong.

"Writing allows you to truly release your emotions and say what you want to say. And I don't think anything is more powerful and self-empowering than the freedom to speak your mind."
-that is what I wrote down. It's true, in my mind at least. Writing has always been a way of expressing my emotions and feelings in a healthy way for me, personally. It gives me an ability to speak my mind, whether it be through literally speaking my mind (a journal) or putting myself in a character's shoes and writing through their perspective. When Api said to us, "Writing makes you strong," it really connected with me.
To go along with our thoughts we were tasked to draw pictures. "All great writers see what they are writing in their mind," Api told us. I often see what I'm writing in my mind. 
Then it was time to write some poetry. 

Api wrote 11 words on the whiteboard. We had to write the very first word that popped into our heads when he said it outloud. 

My words:

1. Sea

1. Sea

1. leaf

1. Me

1. Muse

1. Precipitation

1. Moon

1. Jaime

1. Thunder

1. Guitar

1. Moana

Very weird words, I know. But not as weird and creative as what other people came up with. I have to say, it was quite enjoyable to hear what the other students came up with. One notable word was "angelfish" from Molly, and after reading the poem that developed from that word I definitely felt even more inspired.

The poem. Using all of these words, we had to write one. This was pretty unnerving for everyone, I think. Furthermore, we had to write in what can only be described as "word vomit". 

My poem

The sea 
the moon
don't look at it
mother said
father told me to stop
i wish the thunder would
heavy
black
and pendulous
my mind is my only friend
but where is it?
where is my mind?
way out in the water
see it swimming
thunder!
don't look at the moon
but the moon is my muse, mother
hey moon
don't forget to go down

On behalf of the English Scholarship Pathway students, I can't thank Api Taylor for the wisdom and knowledge and inspiration his words have gifted us. I hope to do many more workshops like these in the future! *hint hint*