Activating Your Inner Power Through Poetry: Workshop for ages 18+

Name: Activating Your Inner Power Through Poetry: Workshop for ages 18+
Start: 2026-09-05T10:00:00+1200
End: 2026-09-05T12:00:00+1200
Location: Tāwera, the new Whakatū Nelson arts hub

Sat, 5 Sep, 10am - 12pm NZST

Tāwera, the new Whakatū Nelson arts hub

Nelson, New Zealand

Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary Prevention Mahi

266 followers · Contact host

Description

Poetry can be a small spell, a survival tool, a truth-telling device, a love letter, or a quiet act of courage.

In this welcoming workshop, poet Rowan Taigel invites participants to transform ordinary moments into meaningful words. Together, you'll explore identity, wellbeing, belonging, relationships, and the stories that help us make sense of ourselves and the world around us.

This is not about writing "perfect" poems. It's about making space for the words that have been waiting -a line, a list, a memory, a tiny manifesto, or a love letter to yourself. Through gentle prompts and creative reflection, you'll be encouraged to notice, name, and reclaim the small truths that live within us all.

No poetry experience is necessary. This workshop is for beginners, secret writers, overthinkers, journal keepers, quiet observers, brave feelers, and anyone who has ever wondered whether their words matter.

They do.

Recommended for ages 18+.

Ordinary Wonders includes a five-week programme of FREE workshops, performances, conversations, film screenings, and creative activities designed to celebrate connection, belonging, and the memories that shape our lives.

All events are FREE, but registration is encouraged, with limited places available for some workshops.

About Rowan Taigel

Rowan Taigel is a Nelson-based poet, collage artist, and educator whose work has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. Her poetry has been recognised in several competitions, and she has appeared as a guest poet at the Christchurch WORD Festival and facilitated creative workshops for events including Nelson Fringe Festival and MakeIt Festival.

Working under the name Guerrilla Poetry, Rowan creates handmade poetry zines and collage artworks that celebrate storytelling, identity, and everyday moments. Alongside her artistic practice, she is a secondary school teacher and deputy principal, bringing extensive experience in helping people of all ages discover confidence, creativity, and connection through poetry, collage, and zine-making.

Follow her work on Instagram @_guerrillapoetry or at www.guerrillapoetrynz.com.

Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity

Hostinformation

Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary Prevention Mahi

266 followers

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Hikitia! is a community-led initiative funded by ACC as part of Te Aorerekura, the National Strategy to Eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence.

This work is focused on creating long-term change by transforming the conditions that lead to and maintain sexual violence, family violence, and child sexual abuse in our communities. Five organisations gained contracts in the first round, and RISE is happy to be one of these first five groups.

In Te Tauihu, Hikitia! For Our Future works across a geographical area that includes Whakatū (Nelson), Waimea (Richmond), Mahua (Golden Bay), and Te Waiharakeke (Marlborough).

What the Hikitia! kaimahi (staff) are focused on/doing?

More than 2000 men have engaged with RISE’s non-violence and dad’s programmes over the years and RISE consistently receives feedback from men that they want to do more.

RISE Hikitia! works with men as powerful allies and leaders in their communities who can challenge harmful behaviour.

Drawing from the insights of these men, alongside the voices of tamariki (children) and rangatahi (youth), whānau and families, those working in the Family Violence and Sexual Violence fields, and research and literature, Hikitia! contributes to three overarching long-term national and regional outcomes:

Mokopuna Ora: protecting the whakapapa of our tamariki, rangatahi and whānau;
Communities are safe, inclusive spaces where children, young people and whānau flourish; and
Primary prevention is prioritised across the family and sexual violence system.

Hikitia! aims to address the underlying causes, or drivers, of sexual and family violence (e.g. social norms, practices and structures that influence attitudes and behaviours) through a systems change approach to primary prevention.

This could look like local storytelling activities to shift mindsets and social norms towards safety, equity and respect. Or partnering with local councils to address high-risk areas.

Crucially, Hikitia! is not focused on service delivery – it focuses on building the infrastructure (workforce, strategy, etc) to support a high-functioning prevention system by working with partners and the community to:

Increase coordination and alignment of sexual violence and family violence prevention (including child sexual abuse prevention),

Identify, implement and leverage initiatives that strengthen protective factors and transform the conditions (including policies, practices, resource flows, relationships, power dynamics etc) that hold sexual violence and family violence in place, and

Enable and activate local leadership to take action to prevent violence.

Together, we will build a future where mana is upheld, whakapapa is honoured, and healthy relationships are achieved.

Meet RISE’s Hikitia! team working to prevent family violence and sexual violence — RISE

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Sat, 5 Sep, 10am - 12pm NZST

Tāwera, the new Whakatū Nelson arts hub

Nelson, New Zealand

Hosted by Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary Prevention Mahi

Activating Your Inner Power Through Poetry: Workshop for ages 18+

Description

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