From 25th to 27th September, BBC Contains Strong Language, the biggest poetry event of its kind, came to Salford Youth Zone, turning our building into a creative space for members to share their poems, raps, original lyrics and pure talent over two sessions.
Friday’s open mic night was hosted by Testament, an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work spans rap, spoken word, theatre, broadcasting and education. He set the tone with live beatbox, plenty of charisma and even more energy. Our members then took to the stage with poems, original songs and raps, and a few adventurous ones even tried karaoke, all in front of an audience of fellow members and staff.
For Testament, the night was about much more than performance.
“It’s not just about the next cadre of writers or poets. It’s also leadership, it’s confidence building, it’s building community. When you have this in your life as a young person, you are much more likely to have a happier life, to contribute to other parts of society, and to contribute to the world.”
We also worked with MediaCubs, who train young people as reporters so they can speak confidently to adults, each other and on camera. Daisy and Tom, two members at SYZ, interviewed our young participants, then asked staff and Testament why events like this matter. Their answers showed how important it is to give young people a safe, familiar place to share their art with people who will celebrate their confidence and work.
“Contains Strong Language is such a good opportunity for young people to express things that they might not be able to otherwise. And you know what? Tonight we saw some absolutely amazing stuff.”
Talia, Dance and Drama Coordinator, Salford Youth Zone
One of the young people who took part agreed;
“You should just do it because opportunities like this happen every so often and the more you do it the less nervous you’ll get.” Ellen Barber, 14, Salford Youth Zone member
On Sunday, the festival continued with a poetry workshop for our inclusion session, led by Jody Findley, founder and director of Mindseta, a Manchester-based consultancy that uses theatre, music, art and film to make conversations about inclusion, identity and belonging accessible and engaging. Jody opened with poems she had prepared, and many members joined her on stage to read them aloud, including some of the shyest members of Sunday Club. Then everyone began writing their own, on topics from why Sunday Club is the best to friendship and roast dinners. Everyone left feeling seen, heard, cared for and confident.
From a packed open mic to a quiet, careful writing session, Contains Strong Language showed what happens when young people are given the space, support and encouragement to find their voice and share their talent.
