Local poet and University of Guyana (UG) student Renata Burnette is set to host what is being billed as “the poetry event of the year” in order to raise funds to pay her tuition fees.
The event, dubbed “Shea Butter,” will see a number of local poets as well as musicians taking the stage this evening at The Duke, in Kingston, Georgetown.
Burnette, 22, whose poetry has reached a wide audience on social media, explained that she chose the name “Shea Butter” as she believes that it, just like poetry in its raw form, is pure.
She noted that a friend, knowing her strength in poetry, suggested the fundraiser. “I already took a leave last semester and I didn’t want this semester to go and have another leave. But I ran out of options—jobs weren’t popping up the way they should have and I didn’t have the time. But my friend suggested it and I didn’t know if I could pull it off in three weeks and she said, ‘Well you can try, you have the fan base.’ And I decided, fair enough.”
The third-year Communications major hopes to make the event an annual one to sponsor more university students. “Hopefully, we could make this an annual event so that we can actually sponsor other people. The more persons come out and the more it is known and spread, we can have it for another student that might be in the same predicament and it will be easier for them because taking a leave is hard, more so worrying about tuition fees while having to worry about every other thing that life throws at you is even harder. So, if we can just sponsor two or more persons, even if it’s [for] a year, that’s kind of the goal,” she added.
Burnette encouraged the public to support the event, while noting that there are many persons in the line-up who they may not have heard of. “So the benefit is also there,” she said.
Tickets for the event, which will begin at 7pm, are $1,500 and can be purchased from the Urban Stylez Boutique at Albert and Sixth streets, Georgetown. Patrons can also pay upon entry at the venue.
