Makeem ‘Haz’ Bartley has been writing poetry ever since he was nine-years-old, but only got involved in the performance side of things in 2011.That year he approached the organisers from Chewstick’s annual summer Beachfest and asked for a shot on the stage. “I went straight into the fire before anything,” he said.It was an “intimidating” experience, performing in front of hundreds of beach goers, but it taught him one of his most important lessons: that ‘being on the stage should be fun’.Now the 19-year-old artist is gearing up for one of his biggest opportunities yet — when he takes the international stage along with several other Bermudians at the Brave New Voices Spokenword and Poetry Competition from August 7th — 11th.The young people are part of youth poetry club ChewSLAM, including: Mr Bartley, Kalaeb Tannock, Hannah Smith, Dascha Choudhury, Marq Rodriguez, Matthew A. Johnston, Tenae Hassell and Kevina-Lorae’ Davis.They are currently on a mission to raise $20,000, via the group’s fundraising website on Indiegogo.com, which will cover the costs associated with travelling to Chicago for the BNV poetry festival. Those who donate to the campaign can receive a number of rewards, including personalised poems written by ChewSLAM members, T-shirts, poetry CDs and even admission to every Chewstick event held over the next six months.Mr Bartley encouraged the community to get behind the positive project and said poetry was a useful outlet for young people in expressing themselves.“It’s a wonderful way of telling the truth, without anyone interfering or judging and it’s a great experience overall, so if people are looking to support the youth and see us do positive things then this is definitely a place where you can see that happen,” he added.In 1998, Brave New Voices was launched in San Francisco, with the idea of creating a safe space for young people to challenge themselves and present the power of their voices.Today young people between the ages of 13-19 from countries from around the world, have helped to make it the largest ongoing spoken word event in the world.The competition is judged by a jury composed of artistic personalities; in the past judges have included musician Talib Kweli and actress Sanaa Lathan.Mr Bartley took part in the BNV competition last year and described it as a “beautiful experience”.He told The Royal Gazette: “It was such a diverse group of people and everyone was so loving and supportive. I have never felt anything like it.“It was surreal because I was expecting that because it’s a competition everything was going to be harsh, but ironically it was on the other side of the spectrum.“We received so much love, and we showed so much love back, so the competition was secondary to what was going on at BNV. Everyone was interacting and connecting and sharing their stories.”He said he was excited about making new friends and seeing some of the same faces he met last year.“I am also looking forward to seeing how many people have grown and hope they see how I have grown as a person,” he added.The ChewSLAM group members have each written four solo pieces, as well as eight group pieces.Some of the poems relate to relevant issues in Bermuda, like homophobia and violence, while one particular poem relates to the colloquialisms used on the Island and is sort of a “translation guide” for the other poets, he explained.Mr Bartley said the team had been “really working hard” and have done their best to put training above other commitments.To help the young people raise enough money to get to BNV, people are encourage to visit www.indiegogo.com/ and search for ChewSLAM.