What started out as a secret Facebook group providing a safe space for poets to workshop their poems has turned into a collection of more than 190 works by 35 contributors titled “My Malaysia is…” <br /> <br />The project will culminate with a spoken word performance by 20 poets at Carcosa Seri Negara. <br /> <br />The recital is part of the Jalan Merdeka exhibition which showcases artefacts from Malaysia's road to independence. <br /> <br />The group’s administrator and former journalist, Julian Matthews, drew inspiration from Robert St John’s book and DVD, “My South”. <br /> <br />The premise of the book was simple - it invited Americans to think about what the South (states that fought for the Confederate States of America) meant to them. <br /> <br />Drawing for that idea, Matthews kicked off the project by asking his Facebook group to write poems around the prompt, “My Malaysia is…” <br /> <br />Over the course of eight weeks, he would provide different prompts daily from “Jalan-Jalan” and “ABC” to “Manglish” and “Hantu”. <br /> <br />The group itself is diverse. From musicians and artists to PR executives and engineering students, people from all walks of life are brought together by a love for poetry and spoken word. <br /> <br />Matthews saw the Facebook group as a way of disciplining himself to write every day, but it has provided a small peek into the many meanings that Malaysia holds for different people. <br /> <br />Catch the poetry showcase at the Signing Room in Carcosa Seri Negara at 3pm, October 21. <br /> <br />Website: https://www.themalaysianinsight.com <br />Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themalaysianinsight <br />Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/msianinsight/ <br />Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msianinsight/
