Vivana Luzochimana always had a fascination with poetry, but the writers she studied in the last year of high school lacked cultural diversity.
"It didn't really matter to me that that was the way, because I still felt connected, I still felt like these were scholars and I appreciate their work," she said.
"But it made me think, 'Are there no other, [person of colour] writers?'," she said.
Writing then became a craft Vivana did alone, for herself.
"I think writing from a young age, I always thought that this work will just be for me," she said.
"And I never thought about sharing it, because there weren't many outlets for me to share to."
That was until she found an Adelaide open mic night catered to people of colour.
"It was right after COVID restrictions were being lifted up and a couple of my friends were always talking about Soul Lounge, and finally we were going," she said.
The movement was created by freelance storyteller Manal Younus.
"[Manal] put in a lot of groundwork, so she built the community by having friends and knowing really good people," Soul Lounge's current director, Chris Best, said.
"And then whenever she created the space, she brought those people and the atmosphere followed."
Mr Best said the open mic night almost resembled a house party, established on the grounds of being a safe space for people of colour to come and share their experiences.
"And whenever you get that many people in a place with that goal, they just bring the vibe with them," he said.
It is something Vivana felt the first time she attended.
"I remember going up on that stage and I was so nervous," she said.
"But I think as soon as I was reading and I was there with everyone — people I didn't even know — it was so welcoming and I felt a release of pressure."
But the poetry movement has not gone without criticism.
"Other feedback that we get is, 'Oh it's a little bit weird that it's only for people of colour' or, 'It's a little bit weird that it's discriminatory,'" Mr Best said.
But he said that was not true.
"I can see why someone would think that, but I'd also encourage them to come along and see what we're about," he said.
"It's not the type of place you can come in and ask, 'What it is like to be a black person in Australia?' That's not what this is.
"You come, you exist, you observe, and you figure out where you fit in."
Vivana said being able to share at events like this had shown her the importance of her own journey.
"I think a lot of the time, I used to think that there are so many stories of POC [people of colour] people going through their adversaries, but I think that my story is my story," she said.
"I think it was really nourishing for writers to share and get feedback, and to continuously want to create work to share to other people."
Mr Best also said the art of poetry was more important than ever.
"With all the different things that are going on today, just socially, globally, politically, I don't think there's ever been a time where poetry has been more important," he said.
"So as far as it being a dying art form — absolutely not."
