The Living Poetry Project

Relationships: they can be so different for each of us. They come in many forms. They can be easy, messy, gritty, complex, challenging and joyous. This is the essence of being human.

Learning to navigate relationships more consciously and with greater awareness is a step towards empowering our inner self. Through small acts of relational intelligence, and leaning into compassion, empathy and kindness, it opens the door to creating a more connected world for each of us.

The Living Poetry Project grew from an idea of placing relationships at the heart of our art. We asked four students to delve into their lived experience, who took inspiration from their own story and relationships, to compose a written piece to share with you during SEXtember. These words are their living poetry.

From this seed, grew a collaborative love poem. A nod to each of our student poets. Writer and poet Natalia Rachel, opens in a new window has beautifully and collectively threaded each poem into a major video work to be explored by you. Greater than the sum of its parts, this is a true nod to relationships that are both Salty and Sweet.

Salty Sweet

Collective love poem by Natalia Rachel

Salty Sweet is the collective love poem threaded together by Natalia Rachel, opens in a new window in response to the four student poems, with accompanying music composed by Sophia Christopher. Come along the journey through this living poetry.

The Living Poetry Project is a joint collaborative project between the Music Performance Unit, opens in a new window, the Health Promotion Unit, opens in a new window and the Media and Immersive team, opens in a new window and proudly supported by Medibank. It was launched in SEXtember 2024, opens in a new window, and sits alongside Untold Stories, opens in a new window, a lived experience storytelling project that showcases real stories, by real people. 

Thank you to Natalia Rachel, opens in a new window, author and poet, and Sophia Christopher, opens in a new window, composer, for their contributions to this project.

Relationships can be raw, messy and yet beautiful. This poetry reflects the lived experience of UNSW students and their relationships with themselves and others. The stories are deeply personal. Such experiences evoke our emotions and memories, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Please know you do not need to struggle alone or in silence. Support is available at UNSW.