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Anita Govan
Anita Govan is a neurodiverse spoken word poet, performer, and teaching artist based in Edinburgh. She curates and hosts Lost in Leith presents: Spoken Word & Music, a monthly event showcasing creative talent from across Scotland. Anita was appointed Stirling Makar from 2012 to 2015 and has held writing residencies with UNESCO and ITAC3.
As an early pioneer in Scottish spoken word and performance poetry, she co-founded Scotland’s first performance poetry club in addition to slams BigWord with Jem Rolls in the early 2000s and the Scottish Youth Poetry Slam with ConFAB in 2004, which still runs today.
She has extensive experience delivering workshops and courses for underserved communities and young people.
As a teaching artist, Anita uses poetry and spoken word to empower people of all ages and backgrounds to find their voices, share their stories and experiences, and develop transferable skills to support their wellbeing and personal development. Inspired by her own experience of struggle at school, Anita encourages young people with specific learning difficulties to develop their own creative practice with her participatory, flexible, and inclusive approach to teaching.
Anita is available for residencies, workshop and courses facilitation, and found poetry commissions for live events, including business conferences and community projects. (Photo credit: Chris Scott)