Today in our round-up we take a look at the Instagram poet, Atticus, we have a poetry competition in honour of a poet from Micronesia and finally the sad news that the poet Priscila Uppal has passed away at the age of 43.
So, Who is Atticus?
Often referred to as poetry’s answer to Banksy, Atticus is something of a sensation on Instagram.
He has over 800,000 followers on Instagram and just published a new poetry book. “The Dark Between Stars” delves into the world of modern dating.
Whilst he might not be into fame, he certainly seems to have amassed not only a large following but also a number of celebrity fans including Alicia Keys and Karlie Kloss.
He has shared some details with his fans about himself; he is in his late 20’s, his mother is English and he has siblings – all sisters, two of whom are younger than him. He has also stated that he has a day job and is from Canada, but he prefers to be “anonymous” he uses the pseudonym Atticus and when he posts on Instagram, with a picture of himself he always wears a mask.
Perhaps part of the interest that people have in him is the mystery that surrounds him, or perhaps it is simply that he has captured people’s imaginations with his Instagram poetry. For a society increasingly reliant on technology these small clever pieces of poetry are the perfect size.
Like Banksy, it seems likely that Atticus fully intends his true identity to remain a complete mystery.
Valentine Sengebau Poetry Competition
Mircronesia will be celebrating the 15thAnnual Valentine Sengbau Poetry competition this year on 16thOctober.
The competition which is named for the late poet, Micronesia’s foremost poet, takes place to support the work of all young poets across the country and also to honour the memory of Sengebau.
Sengebau was a Palauan who became a resident of Saipan, one of the larger islands of Micronesia. His poems talked about the political, cultural and personal life in Micronesia, and in 2004 his works were published in an anthology, “Microchild” by the humanities council to preserve them for future generations.
The competition is open to school children from the region with the younger ones reciting some of Sengebau’s poetry and the older ones reciting poems of their own on the themes of culture, identity and changes occurring in their environs.
Poet Priscila Uppal Passes Away
After a long battle with synovial sarcoma the poet, playwright and novelist Priscila Uppal has passed away, she was just 43.
Uppal was a professor at York University in Toronto, and in 2012 she was appointed the poet-in-residence for the Canadian Athletics Now team for the Summer Olympics which took place in London. This earned her the title of Canada’s coolest poet.
She was the author of 10 books of poetry, 2 novels and had also worked on many anthologies. Her most recent work was an anthology based on “Another Dysfunctional Cancer Poem” a verse she had written previously.
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