The power of poetry
Poetry empowers young people to find their voice and gives them a platform to express their ideas.
Workshop details
The Wondering Poet is a free incursion, in which our Wondering Poet Sas visits high schools around Victoria to deliver a spoken word performance followed by a workshop, inspiring students to build a love for poetry and the spoken word. Students are guided to write their own stories for the page, or in the vibrant, expressive style of performance poetry. These sessions build students’ confidence and creativity foster a love for storytelling and language. The supportive workshops are designed to break down stigma and intimidation with the artform, and harness its potential for creative expression.
Workshops are 100 minutes long, and suited to classes of 25 or less. We have prepared multiple workshop plans, with subject matter tailored to different year levels, including links to the curriculum.
Book the Wondering Poet for your school
This workshop has been co-designed by poet Sas and English teacher Robert White. The Wondering Poet is a program of the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative.
The Wondering Poet Spoken Word event
Enthusiastic participants of the Wondering Poet school workshops can apply to attend an inter-school spoken word poetry slam event on campus, in front of a live audience.
Poetry at the University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne champions poetry in all its forms. We support raising the profile and public engagement with poetry through offerings such as the Peter Steele Poet in Residence, Billboard Poetry and the Peter Steele Poetry Award, in addition to our coursework and postgraduate opportunities through Creative Writing in the Faculty of Arts.
Testimonials
"Nathalia Secondary College is a small rural school of 101 students and 14 teaching staff. Situated in far north Victoria our students could miss out on many opportunities. However today we enabled them an opportunity to learn about, experience and write poetry. Sas Hall presented three workshops to all students from years 7-10. They learnt that poetry can be fun and that it is within their skill set. Sas made poetry relevant to the students and this will benefit them greatly in their schooling and beyond. There is nothing like getting those feels out on paper, it is better (and cheaper) than therapy. Thanks to Sas and the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative who made this incursion possible and free!"
— Melanie Schols, Nathalia Secondary College
"I am thrilled to recommend Sas 'the Wondering Poet' to your school. The workshop they ran for my Year 8 Language and Literature class was a positive and effective experience. We often see resistance to creative writing especially when students are presented with a new person to work with, but Sas' innovative and engaging lesson design immediately created an atmosphere where every student felt comfortable exploring language. This was partly to do with their human vulnerability with the students and partly with their infectious energy."
"Sas is an exceptional presenter – warm, authoritative, and they masterfully handled the class dynamics, drawing out participation from even the quietest students. The workshop’s structure blends guided exercises with creative freedom, building confidence and delivering tangible results."
— Claire Meath, English Teacher and Service Learning Coordinator
"The Wondering Poet incursion was a fun and engaging experience that changed the way I think about writing poems. I loved how adaptive the session was to what was happening around us. When a pigeon flew into our class, Sas explained that any event can become a poem. Sas encouraged us to play with ideas and experiment with literary devices. She also gave us creative challenges, like rolling the first word of our poem on a dice with six different options. Overall, Sas made the workshop engaging by using fun activities and relatable examples."
— Harvey (Year 8 Student)
Meet Sas Hall, our Wondering Poet
Sas is a poet, writer and artist with experience facilitating workshops with young people around the country. As Wondering Poet, Sas wants to release poetry from its misperceptions.
“Poetry continues to be an undervalued artform, despite us needing it now more than ever. I’m really excited to work with young people to unleash their poetic voices and contribute to shifting the perception of poetry - from something inaccessible, to something that belongs to us all.”
“These workshops are designed to support students to express their ideas, passions, frustrations and rage, through the most engaging and accessible of poetic forms, including spoken word.” — Sas
Contact us
For more information about the Wondering Poet workshops please contact:
Sas Hall, Wondering Poet
Email: hall.s@unimelb.edu.au
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