QC Awards- Poetry

In January of this year, I stumbled upon the Kathmandu Word Warriors' QC Poetry Slam Awards. I had never attempted to write or perform Spoken Word Poetry before. However, I regularly watched Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, and other established Spoken Word Poets on YouTube. When Sarah Kay came to Kathmandu in December, I raced to purchase tickets with a couple of close friends. What I'm trying to say is that Spoken Word Poetry is new to me, but not. Thus, when I sent in a poem called 'If' to the QC Awards, I was not expecting anything. I'd actually sent the poem because my English teacher had exhorted me to. However, I got called to their 2-day-workshop. It was a super helpful weekend, in which I realized how much I enjoy poetry. By sharing poems I wrote on the spot-I also had a second epiphany- I didn't suck. People seemed to like to listen to what I wrote. Then, when I was notified of the auditions for the QC awards, I decided to give it a go. I was extremely nervous and forgot half of my poem. Somehow, though, I made it to the next round. A bunch of my closest girlfriends came to support me. I was extremely nervous- but I somehow made it to the semi-finals, the top-ten. There would be 5 winners, and listening to my peers I had no expectations. To me, it wasn't even about the points anymore. When I had first gotten up on stage during the auditions, I had been terrified. I was shaking and I couldn't speak properly. However, somehow, on the Feb 7th performances, I felt confident on stage.  Like I belonged. Like what I was saying wasn't just sounds or words I'd written up in my bedroom. It felt like something that mattered. People were listening- not in the vague way that most people listen (multitasking- half listening, half trying to come up with a reply) but ACTUALLY LISTENING. There were five winners and I ended up being one of them. That didn't really matter to me though. What mattered was the the fact that I had spoken up about things that actually mattered to me- things from my journal, things I'd been ashamed to share before. I had opened up and people had listened. I had made friends along the way too- friends who were just as interested in literature and writing as I am. After the first weekend of the workshop, I decided that no matter what happens, I'm going to start writing poetry regularly- for myself. Anyway, it was a great month and here's one of my performances if you happen to be interested in watching. It's about feminism- very appropriate for International Women's Day.