The BuildWithWords Academy

I attended the WriteWithMusic Festival this year with one clear intention: to promote literacy through storytelling.

While the festival celebrated music, culture, and performance, what stood out most to me was how deeply storytelling was woven into every moment. From spoken word to song lyrics, people were already engaging with narrative—expressing identity, faith, love, and struggle—often without realising they were practising literacy in its most natural form.

At BuildWithWords Academy, we believe literacy goes beyond textbooks and examinations. Literacy is about voice. It is about understanding your story and learning how to tell it clearly—whether through writing, speech, or creative expression.

At the WriteWithMusic Festival, I engaged participants in conversations around how music mirrors story structure: emotion, conflict, rhythm, and resolution. Many young creatives began to see that writing doesn’t have to feel distant or academic. It can grow directly from what they already love.

This experience reaffirmed our mission at BuildWithWords Academy: to make literacy accessible, culturally relevant, and rooted in storytelling. The WriteWithMusic festival reminded me that when people value their stories, they become more open to reading, writing, and learning.

Sometimes, literacy begins with simply recognizing that your story matters.