Confidence through words
- Author
- Rania Kurdi
- Published
- Tue 07 Jun 2022
- Episode Link
- https://www.raniakurdi.com/podcast
How can writing and poetry increase your confidence? That's what I wanted to find out in this episode of Breaking free by talking to my guest Adukeh.
Adukeh (which means ‘beloved one’) is a London-based poet with Yoruba heritage. She has a passion for the arts, particularly their ability to heal and empower through storytelling and expression. Major themes of her work include beauty, brokenness, stillness, and healing.
She describes how she found solace in poetry and journalling as a child who was shy and how in later years it helped her cope with the grief of losing her father. Adukeh reads two of her poems and explains where her inspiration comes from as we compare it to a photograph frozen in time.
Her poetry has given her confidence and has become her calling, taking her to many venues, from cookshops and community centres to cathedrals. She has performed at the Highams Park Festival of Culture, Unveiling Arts Festival, and was selected to perform at Theatre Deli’s Sharp Scratches mental health night.
She also devises and runs poetry workshops and events for various organisations including Tower Hamlets and loves to collaborates with other artists for poetry-related events.
Discussed in this episode:
- Discovering poetry in dark times and how it helped Adukeh deal with her struggles as a shy child (1:18)
- Feeling raw after sharing a personal poem for the first time (3:40)
- Inspired by a performance from actress and poet Michaela Coel (5:20)
- Adukeh's poem 'I am not afraid to shine' (7:10)
- Our gifts don't belong to us alone. How Amy Winehouse's death affected Adukeh(10:50)
- How the death of Adukeh's father led to her starting poetry workshops to help herself and others heal from grief (14:18)
- Adukeh recommends reading the book 'The artist's way' which helped motivate her (20:20)
- A personal poem where Adukeh remembers a moment with her late father, 'What it felt like when he made me a cup of tea' (21:10)
References:
The artist's way : https://www.theartistswaybook.com
Actress and poet Michaela Coel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaela_Coel
Amy Winehouse
Marianne Williamson: https://kingdomgracemedia.com/our-deepest-fear-by-marianne-williamson/
Connect with Adukeh
https://www.instagram.com/adukeh_speaks/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU2owwz31sqOUwyIrlQmizg
Connect with Rania
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