The Writer’s Guide ❤️ Poetry International

The Writer’s Guide ❤️ Poetry International: a love story.
With this mini talent development program, we prepared six young poets for a performance during the festival: Lelie Danesh, Maryam Abdelalim, Gauri Malhoe, Halima Ikane, Nadine Rypkema and Jody Aikman. Through intersectional feminist writing school The Writer's Guide (to the Galaxy) the poets received coaching by poet Daniela Jerez, a master class in poetry writing by Iduna Paalman and a master class in performance from Geoffrey van der Ven, who will also be hosting this beautiful program!

Geoffrey van der Ven looks at the world with a curious eye. He engages, listens and puts stories on the table. His pieces are sharp, critical and often activist. His lectures are personal and are built around queer and BIPOC identities. With his vibrant energy he holds the audience attention, but also gives them space to breathe and reflect between pieces.
As a spoken word artist and theater maker, he tells the stories that have gone unheard for too long. Geoffrey is currently on tour with his solo performance 'It is not new', in which he highlights the queer history of Africa. He previously won the 'Poet of the Year' Award at Queer & Feminist Poetry Awards, his speech was heard at the Eurovision Song Festival, and he performed at major stages and events, such as the Nieuwe Luxor Theater, Rotterdam Pride and Museum Night.

Lelie Danesh is a novice filmmaker, poet and spoken word artist from Rotterdam. Her work, like her films, straddles the line between reality and dream. She insists on creating something new, and hopes to push the boundaries of what is considered possible within art.
 
Maryam Abdelalim is a Dutch-Egyptian artist who grew up in the Schilderswijk of The Hague. She is a writer, spatial thinker, tailor and performance artist. Her entire oeuvre tastes like healing and recognition. With her spirituality and biculturalism, she is – completely contemporary – while on her own journey of discovery.

Gauri Malhoe is a Rotterdam-based maker and performer. She likes to write portraits that she brings to life with her lyrical rhymes. She is a storyteller who romanticizes life without avoiding the harsh reality. Her poetry is a reflection of her community, being both inspiring and confrontational.

Halima Ikane is a medical student who put her textbooks aside for a year to find out who she is when she doesn't have to be anyone and what she does when she doesn't have to be anything. The answer: writing and poetry. She cuts red threads that pinch the scruff of the neck, spars with gray areas and dances with nuance. Her central themes: meaning and the inner child.

Nadine Rypkema is a composer, wordsmith and performer from Rotterdam. She translates her amazement for the everyday into poetic lyrics, the words of which are carried by warm chords and striking rhythms. Nadine's love for both music and language drives her to continuously investigate the ways in which these two art forms can reinforce each other.

Jody Aikman is a writer, poet and artistic researcher from Rotterdam. She investigates the silences she encounters in our language. She writes about the things that are said between the nose and lips, the family stories that are not told in full, or about the physical silences in her life, such as her deceased father. Through poems and stories, Jody explores her relationship with the world, herself and all the silences in between.