My name is Hannah Natalia Singh and I am 18 years old. I grew up in the community of Great Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara. I’m the youngest of four girls. I was a child with a rebellious streak and a tendency for getting into trouble.
One of my biggest challenges growing up was staying out of trouble, and accidents. However, if we’re looking at something that may seem more relatable. During my Primary School years, I read countless novels which my mother disapproved of since I often got carried away reading fiction novels and watching television, that I completely ignored my studies.
As an average student, I should have focused more on my school work. Instead, after being banned to read novels at home, I used to sneak novels behind my textbook and “study” at the dining table. When my mother would pass me by, I’d quickly slide the book onto a chair which would allow the book to be hidden properly. Even though I was the youngest sibling, I grew up as an only child because all of my siblings were old enough to have already moved onto studying overseas and even, earning their own money.
To fill my days, I would create characters in my head and I would make them play along to my skits, those of which were inspired by television shows at that time.
I attended Eccles Nursery School, then transitioned to Peter’s Hall Primary School. In 2013, I would have garnered enough marks to gain me a place at St. Rose’s High School. I graduated with ten subjects at CXC in 2018 and went ahead to pursue a diploma in Creative Writing at the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama. The one-year diploma program came to its conclusion in 2019, where I received the award for the Best Poetry Student and also graduated with Credits (3.0 GPA).
I am currently a University of Guyana within the Humanities and Education faculty, furthering my studies through the Degree program in English-Literature/Linguistics.
As a child and teenager, I was always poetically-inclined. However, my poetry really began taking flight after high school. I mean, in high school, I dabbled in the arts and believed in expressing my creativity poetically. However, when I was on my diploma program, I discovered that my writing style was very poetic and I was advised to continue on the path of poetry. It was here that I found and developed my love for spoken word poetry.
The question of my favourite poet is a difficult one to answer because there are so many amazing poets who have inspired me to write and to do so freely. One of my favourite poets is Maya Angelou, with my favourite piece from her being “Still I rise”. She has inspired me to always rise above my situation and the opinion people may have of me.
My style of poetry is free verse spoken word poetry. However, according to my friends, when I deliver poetry, it’s almost musical. So I would say that my poetry has a rhythm to it and a steady flow, like water moving from streams to rivers without any qualms.
Being able to express what is on my mind in a poetic way is what fuels my passion for poetry. Added to that, is the fact that I feel as though my pieces enable people to find themselves within my pieces. I’m not saying that everyone will relate, but for those who will, that’s the reason I share what I write.
Poetry means life to me. It was a means of preventing my own suicide attempts when I was battling the growing pains of adolescence. To quote one of my pieces, “It turned the rope I was holding into a pen, and the note I was writing into a poem”.
Poetry means life to me. I repeated the line because there is poetry in everything, from the way we walk to the manner of our walk, whether it be in strides or short paces, you can see poetry in the faces, of the people with stories that are yet to be told, and those begging to be heard.
