South Auckland Poets Collective (SAPC) is a collection of young Pacific and Maori writers/ poets and performers aged 16 to 22 from all areas of South Auckland (Manukau City). SAPC meet once a month at the Otahuhu Recreation Centre to write and rehearse their poems through song, drama, spoken word and rap. They have been collaborating together for almost nine months since November 2007.Armed with their voices and note books they cast down the negative stereotypes of youth in Manukau portrayed by the media with a new and positive story.

This group was initially brought together by Youthline youth leaders, Ramon Narayan, Julia Rahui, Wiki Ah Chee and Grace Taylor. Darren Kamali was also brought on board as an expert and mentor to facilitate the poetry aspect of the project. Utilising the teams combined skills and experience they brought together a group of people interested in poetry and developed a process which enabled the group to share their stories and develop their skills. As their confidence and esteem grew through the process so did their ability as performers and poets

The project was conceived with the opportunity to debut their performance and concept at Splore 08. This was a great success with a lot of support and positive feedback from the Splore audience. Splore 08 was to be the end of the project but  the momentum had grown to such an extent that post Splore the collective continued to flourish. With the support of Youthline and the community they continue to develop their talents, confidence and passion by establishing their skills as poets/writers/actors and singers.

The passion and determination of the group to get their voices and talents out into the community has continued to strengthen and they constantly and consistently step up to perform. There is definitely a need for more young people in the South Auckland area to establish their art-forms, express themselves and realize their creativity. The aim is not only to lift the profile of these talented young people but to paint a truer picture of our youth in South Auckland and the positive stories they create on a daily basis.