Manal Younus Performance and Workshop

Manal Younus was a great success with her audiences at Darwin High. The young spoken word performer presented her life in Australia and Eritrea, and her concerns about both, through her poems, asking her audience to click their fingers whenever they liked an idea or a phrase. In the workshop which followed, she drew some very creative work from the participants who were encouraged to share their writing with others and did so with enthusiasm and wit.

The comments of a group of students from the SIEU showed that they were particularly responsive to Manal’s work, despite the speed of her delivery.

I like the way she uses all the techniques of poetry and the speed of her brain.

What I thought about Manal Younus is that she never gave up. She was inspirational, knowing that she wasn’t perfect, but at the same time wasn’t willing to give up. I really liked the poetry because she really got us involved and was also a sign of hope – like when she said the only way to success is to fail first and then get back up and keep going.

Manal Younus inspired me with her poetry.

Manal Younus is an inspirational person. She told her story about when she first read her poetry in a competition and it was so bad, but she was determined not to give up. She is also a brave woman because her family is separate from her in many different countries.

Manal Younus’s pronunciation is amazing, and her poems impressed me. She helped me to understand more about poetry.

I had not expected Manal’s poetry to be so touching and motivational.

Manal Younus is very brave and confident when she is presenting.

I enjoyed when she was beat boxing.

I liked when she wanted us to give her feedback on what we liked or understood by flicking our fingers.