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Media Release
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December 2009
STUDENTS GO PUBLIC WITH THEIR VERSE
Students taking part in a national poetry development
program have adopted innovative ways to ensure their
work is seen and heard.
Rather than just sharing it with teachers and classmates,
Year 9 and 10 pupils are gaining widespread public exposure
on radio, websites, inside local businesses and in their own newspaper.
The Papercuts scheme, now in its third year, links students with a published poet and
teachers with specially prepared kits of classroom activities, with an emphasis on self
and collective appraisal and promotion to build confidence and esteem.
For some classes, the works are ultimately seen in all their glory on the back doors of
public toilets inside shops.
In the case of Norfolk Island Central School, workshopped poems will be featured at
the island’s annual cultural festival, on its student-run radio program and in the local
newspaper.
Students and teacher Ben Hazlett took part in a week-long intensive residency involving
Sydney-based poet Liz Allen, whose chapbook Forgetful Hands was recently published
by Vagabond Press.
Scores of poems created by students at Abbotsleigh College as part of the program
have recently been on display in a Wahroonga book store and an “epic poem” produced
collaboratively has been distributed online.
The Abbotsleigh group were assisted by Anna Kerdijk Nicholson, an award-winning
poet and lawyer, in collaboration with English teacher Terrie Jones.
At Concord High School, where Papercuts has been utilised since 2007, students have
opted to distribute their poems around the school campus and paint them onto an old
door that will be hung up in the school.
Teachers John Turner and Emma Parsons utilised Newcastle-based poet, academic
and musician Ed Wright to help pupils develop and interpret their verse in a series of
classes.
Papercuts is the brainchild of The Red Room Company, a not-for-profit organisation
that commissions and promotes poetry by professional and budding poets.
The company’s Artistic Director, Johanna Featherstone, said the “caring and sharing”
aspect of the program was seen as both rewarding and encouraging for students.
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“We have found that the involvement of a visiting poet in classroom sessions is an
enormous plus for students in freeing up their imagination, and producing new work by
young people that is worth showing off to the greater community,” she said.
Other schools participating in Papercuts in 2009 include Fitzroy High School (Vic) and
Perth Modern School (WA).
Papercuts is supported by the Ian Potter Foundation.
Media inquiries to Johanna Featherstone 0425 312334 or Graham Cassidy, Cato
Counsel, 0419 202317
NEWS 
