A SCHOOL near Selby has finalists in an annual spoken word competition that has encouraged thousands of young people to share their thoughts and feelings about life through their own performance poetry.

Barlby High School is one of seven schools with finalists in SlamJam.

With both schools and performing arts centres closed, this year’s event was at risk of being cancelled, but organisers were determined to ensure that young writers still had a platform to share their creative skills, ideas and experiences.

For the first time in its 11-year history, SlamJam has gone digital with more than 40 young people writing and submitting poems before participating in preliminary heats through Zoom calls.

Creative director Jan Kemp said: “SlamJam is an incredibly special and powerful programme which supports young people to build confidence in their thoughts and ideas and find their voice through poetry and spoken word. Their worlds have turned upside down over the last few months and so the idea of not holding Slamjam this year went totally against what we know its value to be. We’ve been blown away by the submissions and performances we’ve seen so far. This year’s digital final will certainly be one to remember!”

All poems written as part of this year’s competition have been developed in response to the theme of ‘Lockdown’ and offer a valuable insight into how these unprecedented times have been perceived by young people.

The SlamJam final will have three judges in digital attendance. Prizes will be awarded to the three highest-scoring poets.

The final on July 2 will be live-streamed via the new SlamJam YouTube channel.