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Anita Govan

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Contact: [email protected]
Local authority: Edinburgh City
Languages: English
Anita Govan's headshot

Former Stirling Makar (2012-2015), and an early pioneer of Scottish performance poetry scene, Anita is a teaching artist, published writer and poet. As a teaching artist, she sees poetry as an exciting and powerful tool for people of all ages and backgrounds, whether creating slams and poetry for primary or secondary schools or found poems for business and community seminars.

Co-founder of the Scottish Youth Poetry Slam 2016/18 for secondary S1-S3, she is also the founder of WordLab Arts, a hub for literary arts and education. One of her specialisms is encouraging young people with specific learning difficulties who are struggling in school. Inspired by her own experience of being severely dyslexia and ADHD in school, her practice is participatory, flexible and inclusive. meeting CofE and GIRFEC principles.

She trained with the renowned practitioner Keith Johnstone in Canada and has taught throughout Scotland. She is currently working on projects in education, business and wellbeing. She's available for individual residencies or a series of workshops.

"Kickstarting an interest in poetry not seen since the days of Hugh MacDiarmid and Dylan Thomas" - Scotland on Sunday (Photo credit: Chris Scott)

Local authorities will visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events will deliver

Mentoring; Panel event; Performance; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop; Professional development, CLPL or CPD; Chairing events

Audience will work with

Adult learners; Care-experienced people; Carers; Intergenerational learning; Outdoor learning; Adults with additional support needs; People experiencing mental health problems; People living with dementia; Prisoners & young offenders; Reluctant readers; Vulnerable young people (under 18); Vulnerable adults; Vulnerable older people; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts); Young people with additional support needs (under 18) (ASN/SEN)

Topics of work

Adolescence; Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Biography & memoir; Childhood; Coasts, seas & oceans; Death, grief & bereavement; Discrimination & prejudice; Environment & climate; Event production; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Family; First experiences for younger readers; Friendship; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; History; Human rights; Loneliness & isolation; Love & romance; Music; Nature; Performance training; Picture books; Politics; Poverty; Publishing & getting published; Rhyming books for younger readers; Rural communities; Science; Sports; Travel writing; Urban communities; Wars & conflicts; World War 1; World War 2

Age groups published for

Children; Teens; Adults

Age groups will work with

0-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+