MACFEST 2024: Celebrating Poetry and International Mother Language Day

• Join for an exciting event with young people from the UK on a literary and poetic journey as we celebrate International Mother Language Day! Young poets will recite or perform their poetry in English or their mother tongue.

• Professor Yaron will introduce the main language communities, with a focus on the language of the city’s Muslim populations. He will discuss how information on languages is compiled, what functions languages have, and what multilingual spaces exist in the city.

• They will be introduced by their teachers or headteachers.

• Amal Mohammad Yousaf and Donia Fellag from Whalley Range 11–18 High School
• Aledvina Mane and Pakeeza Maryam from Hopwood Hall College.

• Kunza Khan is from the University of Salford.

• Kaya Askander and Daaniya Faisal from Withington Girls School.

• Ayesha Nadeem, Hasna Raza, and Huneza Ali from Levenshulme High School

• Mukhtar Omar Mukhlis, King Edward’s School, Birmingham.
• Kamal Sddiq from KD Grammar School for Boys.

Hosted by: Miss Donna Johnson and Mr. Neil A. Johnson, co-headteachers of Levenshulme High School, Manchester.

Presented by: Yaron Matras is a linguist specializing in multilingualism and minority languages. He founded and led the multilingual Manchester program.

Chief Guest: John Claughton, former Chief Master of King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and co-founder of WoLLoW, World of Languages, Languages of the World.