What started out as a secret Facebook group providing a safe space for poets to workshop their poems has turned into a collection of more than 190 works by 35 contributors titled “My Malaysia is…”

The project will culminate with a spoken word performance by 20 poets at Carcosa Seri Negara.

The recital is part of the Jalan Merdeka exhibition which showcases artefacts from Malaysia's road to independence.

The group’s administrator and former journalist, Julian Matthews, drew inspiration from Robert St John’s book and DVD, “My South”.

The premise of the book was simple - it invited Americans to think about what the South (states that fought for the Confederate States of America) meant to them.

Drawing for that idea, Matthews kicked off the project by asking his Facebook group to write poems around the prompt, “My Malaysia is…”

Over the course of eight weeks, he would provide different prompts daily from “Jalan-Jalan” and “ABC” to “Manglish” and “Hantu”.

The group itself is diverse. From musicians and artists to PR executives and engineering students, people from all walks of life are brought together by a love for poetry and spoken word.

Matthews saw the Facebook group as a way of disciplining himself to write every day, but it has provided a small peek into the many meanings that Malaysia holds for different people.

Catch the poetry showcase at the Signing Room in Carcosa Seri Negara at 3pm, October 21.

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