A young spoken word artist from Kenton has been having a very good year so far. Not only was Catherine Labiran selected to be one of the National Lottery’s 12 Poets of 2012 who penned the official Olympic poem, but she has also been chosen by the Theatre Royal Stratford East in its search for original creative work from young artists of Nigerian Heritage.

The 30 young people chosen for 30 Nigeria House Artists have been awarded up to £3,000 to develop their work, and Catherine is using the funding for her project Twelve .

“I’d like to run creative workshops at Harrow Arts Centre with twelve poets, rappers and singers aged 16 to 24,” says the 18-year-old who took her A-Levels at St Dominic’s College in Harrow-on-the-Hill this summer. “This will be an opportunity for youths who may not have been given too many chances in the past, a platform for them to shine.”

The workshops will run for 12 weeks and will result in a huge show in The Vibe Bar in Brick Lane. Everything to do with the project is facilitated by young people, from the design of the logo to promotions to event planning. “I’m very happy I can give something back to my community,” says Catherine.

If you’d like to be part of Twelve, contact Catherine at info@twelvetalents.com by August 20. Details: www.twelvetalents.com