Introducing Dr Afua Cooper

A poet, performer, scholar, historian, and social and cultural commentator, Dr. Afua Cooper’s expertise in and contributions to the arts, history, and education were recognised when she was presented in 2015 with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Award from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

A celebrated poet she is the author of five books of poetry, including the critically acclaimed Copper Woman and Other Poems. She has also recorded two poetry CD’s. Her poetry has a strong sense of memory, history, place, and spirituality. Further, Afua has published two historical novels, which have garnered Canadian and American awards. Her work in the creative arts has been recognised with the Premier of Ontario Award for Excellence in the Arts, a Governor General’s Award nomination, and internationally with the Beacon of Freedom Award (recently awarded for her book My Name is Phillis Wheatley). A founder of the Canadian Dub poetry movement, Afua Cooper was instrumental in organising three international dub poetry festivals between 2004 and 2009.

Introducing Buddy Wakefield

Photo courtesy of Luke Reid, 2017

Buddy Wakefield is a three-time world champion spoken word artist featured on the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, ABC Radio National and signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. In 2004 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear then successfully defended that title at the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands against the national champions of seven European countries with works translated into Dutch.

An author at Write Bloody Publishing and an original Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, Buddy is published internationally in dozens of books with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and forensics competitions. Wakefield, who is not concerned with what poetry is or is not, delivers raw, rounded, disarming performances of humor and heart.

For full bio please see http://buddywakefield.com/

Introductions to Faculty members in Banff - starting with Tanya Evanson, Program Leader

So, I never got the opportunity to blog properly about this year's Spoken Word Faculty members at Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Neither did I have the time to write an ongoing reflection of the program whilst I was in Banff.

I am now rectifying this, and over the next couple of weeks will be posting about the above.

To start off I would like to introduce Tanya Evanson, The Spoken Word Program Director



Tanya Evanson is a Montreal poet, performer and director of Banff Centre Spoken Word. She performs internationally, has published six artist books of poetry and four audio recordings including the latest ZENSHIP (2016). In 2013, she received the Golden Beret Award and was Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Recent work includes publication in Resist Much / Obey Little - Inaugural Poems to the Resistance (Dispatches Editions 2017), More Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women (YYZBOOKS 2016), Where the Nights Are Twice As Long (Gooselane 2015), and her book of poetry Bothism is forthcoming from Ekstasis Editions. Recent spoken word performances include Blue Metropolis, Suoni per il Popolo, Verses Festival of Words, Glastonbury Festival, Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Tasmanian Poetry Festival, Australia’s Story Fest and Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.

www.mothertonguemedia.com

I've landed

Wow, what a truly incredible fortnight. I've arrived safely back to Newcastle after a life-changing experience on the Spoken Word residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada. It's kind of ironic that, even though I have been living in the world of poetry and storytelling I am struggling to find the words to sum up my experience.

I faced some challenges that I had not anticipated in addition to those I had expected,
I developed a bond with the fellow participants and faculty, unlike anything I imagined,
I was introduced to a number of new concepts and ideas such as Akashic Records and memory pegging
I ate food I have never eaten before
and have learned lots about myself and how to belong in this crazy world.

It is taking a while for me to adapt back to UK time, so please bear with me as I conquer the jet lag. I will be posting more about my experience on the Spoken Word program, but in the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this elk adventure.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 12

Friday, April 28
7:30 pm - Tanya Tagaq Performance - Margaret Greenham Theatre

I spent the day preparing for the performance, and then met up with Kyla from the Social Media team at Banff Centre for a short interview and photo.

In the evening we attended the Tanya Tagaq performance. Having never experienced throat singing before, I did not know what to expect, and was really excited.

Tanya Tagaq is a contemporary artist and throat singer from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. She just won the prestigious 2014 Polaris Prize and the 2015 Juno Award for Best Aboriginal Album of the Year for her latest album, Animism. Since 2001, she has forged a remarkable career performing on stages around the world and collaborating with world-renowned artists such as Bjork and the Kronos Quartet. She has released four award-winning albums: Sinaa (2005), Auk/ Blood (2008), Anuraaqtuq (2011) and Animism(2014) which is also set to be released in the United States. She has won numerous Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards and been nominated for numerous Juno Awards. During her teenage years, while away at school, she began experimenting with Inuit throat singing and gradually developed her own solo style, fusing contemporary interests with this traditional art form. Her unique sound defies easy categorization; it has been described as ‘primal’, ‘orchestral’ and as ‘free jazz’.

She has also ventured into film performance, contributing to the soundtrack for “Diaries of Knut Rasmussen” and theme music for the CBC television show Arctic Air. She performed in the award-winning short film Tungijuq which premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and the Sundance Film Festival (2010). More recently, she has collaborated with musicians Jesse Zubot and Jean Martin in scoring a powerful live performance set to the 1922 film, Nanook of the North.

"Her ghostly chants, guttural growls, gasps and moans are enough to make Björk, her sometime collaborator, sound as demure as a choirgirl." - The Guardian

The performance was out of this world. Tanya showed another side to her personality. Infact, it was hard to believe that the woman on stage was the same woman who had appeared so sensitive and fragile at the beginning of her artist talk the day before.

She had mentioned that the performance may have been difficult to understand had she not spoken to us, and I can certainly see what she meant by that. I think that when on stage, she was enacting some of the stories that she had told us about. What came out of her mouth was so rich, full of emotion, pain, grief, hurt, delight. It was visually amazing to watch also. She was transformed as she moved from one character to another.


At the end I met up with the other Spoken Word artists and we were shellshocked and speechless! We had been blown away.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 11

Thursday, April 27

Workshop 8, Led by Tanya Tagaq

ARTIST TALK + Q&A - Tanya Tagaq talked about how the North influences her art and took questions.

Tanya Tagaq is a Canadian (Inuk) throat singer, artist and activist from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuutiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island. She gave an artist talk as part of the Banff Spoken Word program during which she kindly shared some of her writing with us, and then answered questions from the group. Her writing is based on her experience and is also quite abstract. She intends for her writing to increase awareness and then help with the healing process.

She presented herself in a curious manner; Softly spoken and prone to giggles, her feminine, timid, high-pitched voice indicated a degree of shyness and vulnerability. However, as she revealed some of the disturbing stories of her childhood, a more confident, resilient and courageous character emerged.



I admire the way that, despite all the trauma she has been through, she does not want this to be her identity and is not looking for self pity.

Some really pertinent comments she made, include

"If you don't live it, don't claim it"

"It's not until you give birth that you realise the pain that will be involved in dying"

"If you have a papercut, don't complain to people with no arms"

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 10

Wednesday, April 26

Individual Studio Time

Geology Talk and Walk

Rick Miller, Dragonfly Documentary

This morning I was greeted by a deer as I walked from the accommodation to my studio. How I will miss moments like this when I return to Newcastle!

I spent the majority of the day editing the sound files that I had recorded yesterday and practicing my performance for Saturday.

In the afternoon I attended Jim's talk on the geology of Banff. Most of the mountains in Banff are metamorphic rocks (Sedimentary rocks that have been heated or compressed). Limestone is most commonly found in Banff. There are parts of the mountains that are composed of clastic rock. Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus, chunks and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering. One way of distinguishing the difference between limestone and clastic rock is by looking at the snow on the rocks - clastic sediments gather snow more than limestone.

The other day at lunch I got talking to a couple of film makers who are on a short residency here. 

Tonight I met up with Rick to discuss the work that he and I are currently doing, and our links with mental health organisations. Rick is working on a project investigating the links between creativity and mental health difficulties. He is going to be interviewing 'mad artists' and showcasing the work that they make. The term 'mad artist' is not one that I am familiar with, and I was a little embarrassed to ask Rick to explain what he meant by it. He handed me a scrap of paper from his jacket pocket. 









There was this short explanation of the term, and Rick was proud to inform me that the definition had been written by the Canada Council. 

Mad arts

"Mad is framed as a social and political identity by people who have been labelled as mentally ill or as having mental health issues. Rather than focusing on awareness and coping with stigma, Mad Pride focuses on expressing the unique ways people experience the world in terms of making meaning, developing communities, and creating culture. Mad arts is the artistic exploration of Mad Pride focusing on mad histories and identities."

Canada Council

It is really encouraging to know that the Canadian Council have such a good understanding of the situation and are keen to support Mad Pride.

Banff Centre Spoken Word Residency - Day 9

Tuesday, April 25

Recording studio sessions - Rice Audio Studio, 
Writing Circle 

Today was another icy cold day with plenty of snow.

Individual Studio time
I spent the morning completing the scripts for each of the Spoken Word participants to read from within my allotted recording studio session. I have decided to use a mixture of recorded audio and spoken word in my performance on Saturday evening. I have developed the text that I wrote in response to the vulnerability that I felt on the first day in the Opening Circle. I believe it will work well, given the context of the residency, to begin my performance with a mixed audio track of the different participants vocalising their insecurities and fears. This will be followed by me reading the text, which will then lead into the concluding audio track consisting of the participants vocalising sounds and words of support and reassurance. Having collected lots of recordings from participants over the course of the residency, I have now chosen the sounds that i want each person to say, but will record it higher quality in the sound booth. It has been quite a mean feat arranging the recording session schedule, but I've now got the hour planned well.



Recording Studio Session
The recording session went well and the time flew by! Now I have the task of editing all the recordings into the tracks to be played for the performance.



Writing Circle
In the evening I attended the Writing Circle group at the Library. One of the exercises that we did was to take different lines from different existing poems to form a new poem. We could also take a line from an existing poem and then do our own creative writing from this. At the event I met other artists on different programs at Banff which was interesting.

Banff Spoken Word Residency - Day 7

Sunday, April 23

Trip to Lake Louise
Individual Studio time

The Community Services department at the Banff Centre had arranged an optional bus trip to Lake Louise, and so a group of us took the opportunity to visit somewhere outside of Banff.

We were dropped off at the Lake and then had a few hours to spend at Lake Louise before heading back to the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. 



The lake was completely frozen and people were able to walk over it. Lake Louise is dominated by the huge Fairmont hotel, so Isabel, Bea and I decided to escape from the busyness and touristic nature of the hotel area, and hike up to a viewpoint overlooking the lake. 



The snow was really deep and few people had ventured on the beaten track that we took uphill, so it really did seem that we were out in the wilderness. 





The group split, with half staying at the hotel for the afternoon and the other half (including me) returning to Banff to crack on with our work. Danielle kindly drove us back. It was good to get some solid time in my studio to work on my writing.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Brandon Wint - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Brandon Wint is a poet, spoken word artist, and prominent teacher of writing, currently living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is, perhaps, best known for his ability to meaningfully articulate the mysteries of love, romance and kindness in his poetry. He is a poet who uses the potential of writing and speaking to articulate the beauties of the world, and where possible, the silver-linings that underscore the ugliness and struggle that is inherent to the human condition. His typically soft-spoken, musical and delicately-rendered spoken word pieces have garnered attention and admiration from audience members across Canada and in far-away places like England and Australia, where his life and work have been showcased on radio and in print. He is a two-time national slam champion, the author of one collection of poetry, Love, Our Master (In/Words Magazine and Press, 2014) and one recently-released album entitled The Long Walk Home.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Philip Wilcox - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Philip is the 2015/16 Australian Poetry Slam Champion as well as a two-time New South Wales Slam Champion. He tours nationally and internationally, performing at festivals such as the Ubud Writers’ Festival, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing and the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.

He is also a (sometimes) playwright having written two plays for the Sydney Fringe Festival – The Staffroom (2012) and Thursday (2013) which was voted the most popular comedy play of the festival.

He is just about to release his first published collection of poems Beetle Prayer with Pitt Street Poetry.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Mitcholos - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Mitcholos is a Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ/ Nuučaan̓uɫ artist from a tiny reservation with no hopes or aspirations that anybody would chase if they had a MODICUM of sanity – which is convenient ‘cause after 500 years of degradation in what is Colonially Known As Canada – sanity is in woefully short supply; which makes his people fun. One Housekeeping Note: Be sure to wipe your white tears during and after the show, though they be potent, are worth nothing. Until you invent technology that runs strictly on white tears – technology that doesn’t destroy the environment or enslave colored children somewhere – it’s worth nothing here beyond sating and stroking Mitcholos’ own exhibitionist, histrionic ego. Enjoy.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Isabelle St-Pierre - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Isabelle St-Pierre has been making her voice heard as a Canadian poet, slammer and storyteller for over 20 years in Québec, Ontario, Acadia and France. As the daughter of an immigrant mother, she carries within herself the gentle melancholy of the nomad, of the wandering Jew. Through her own identity and territorial questions, she paints realistic portraits, addressing difficult and sensitive subjects such as poverty, working class life, everyday violence and injustice. Close to folk and protest song, hers is a committed word that aspires to be a tool for social change. Since 2005, she has been leading and running dozens of shows, open mikes, contests, and workshops, in different venues and festivals. From 2005 to 2010, she directed the storytelling /slam component of l’État d’Urgence, refugee camp (ATSA) , mobilizing more than 20 artists for the event and providing a space for homeless voices to be heard. Since 2012, she has actively been organizing and hosting the Montréal Slam Sessions, a monthly event featuring spoken word artists and an open mike formula. In January 2016, she created an unprecedented event with Caroline N.Hotte (CBC North), Paroles Fauves: a poetic vigil to fight violence against aboriginal women.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Heath V. Salazar - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Heath V. Salazar is a Dora Award-winning latinx actor/singer/ dancer/writer, born in Canada, who performs as male, female and gender variant. They’re one of the original creators of the new Canadian musical, Chasse-Galerie. It was with this production that they won a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance - Ensemble and were also nominated under Outstanding Production in the Independent Theatre Devision. Over the past year, they were a regular on Season 4 of the award-winning webseries, Out With Dad, with whom they also worked as a script consultant. Other credits include We Are Not the Others (partnership between McMaster University and Izad Etemadi), the devised theatre piece Suitcases (R. Saracino Productions), TOUGH! (directed by Ken Gass, ENSEMBLE Canadian Youth Theatre), This is the August (Young Prince Collective), Dance Animal (Best of Fringe 2016, Dance Animal), The Vagina Monologues (Adam Samson Theatre), choreographer and featured dancer in Gossip (mojopro films) and The Victor Singers (the choir featured in Josh Groban’s Toronto performance of his Stages tour). This Spring, they’re set to play Goneril in Language, a multilingual film adaption of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Heath is also the fluid drag king, Gay Jesus. Bushy. Bearded. Blasphemously blessed.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Luke Wren Reid - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Born at the Huntsman, Meander, Tasmania, 10am 14th of January in the back garden, Luke Wren Reid was raised in the Meander Valley by his mother.

Luke began writing at an early age. At twenty two Luke moved to Sydney to pursue his studies in screen writing at AFTRS. There he was introduced to Filmmaker and artist Christina Conrad; Luke’s time spent under Conrad’s mentorship has had a profound effect on his work.

After several years working in film and television in Spain Luke returned to Tasmania. In 2014 he won the Launceston Spoken word event ‘Slamduggery’ taking on the role as organiser later that year. Luke’s work as Director has seen the event grow into the Tasmania’s largest monthly poetry event, fostering the work of several local artists who have gone on to become poets in their own right.

Luke’s work has been widely acclaimed both locally and nationally In 2014 and 2015 Luke represented Tasmania in the National final of the Australian Poetry Slam at the Sydney Opera house. Luke has been a featured poet at writers festivals, solo performances as well as a host of local events, rallies and public showcases.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist B.A. Markus - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

B.A. Markus is a writer, teacher and performer who lives in Montreal. She is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, a Juno- nominated song writer, and her reviews, essays and stories can be found in anthologies and publications such as Carte Blanche, Queen’s Quarterly and The Montreal Review of Books. She can be seen telling stories at Confabulation and The Yarn storytelling events and is currently writing a series of monologues entitled, “What Mommy Needs”, about what mothers do to survive the realities of mothering.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist David Leduc - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

David Leduc, aka Le Grand Slack, is a Spoken Word artist who has been on the Quebec slam scene since 2008.

Along with his musicians, he has performed his show throughout the province, in addition to offering slam workshops in high schools and CEGEPs. From 2012 to 2016, he organized and hosted « Figures de Style », a monthly open-mic event at bar Les Pas Sages in Montreal. He is currently working on an upcoming EP that should be released this fall. « Cassé », his first single has risen to the top of the independent radio charts, and its videoclip was a hit on Musique Plus.

He is a member of the organizational committee of Slamontréal since 2017 as well as a a regular contributor to Radio-Canada’s literary show “Plus on est de fous, plus on lit !”

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Kym Dominique-Ferguson - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Kym Dominique-Ferguson is who and what you get when you blend together the polarizing languages and cultures of Jamaica, Haiti and Canada. Born on the 11th of September 1980, Ferguson always felt the lull of greatness, and throughout the years, with humility, gratitude and openness to learning, his goals and achievements match that pull.

Ferguson has made some big strides in the community, creating fixtures such as the Art of Performing Aural Sex (Erotic Poetry Show), Madpoetix Soirées Intimes (Open Mic night) and recently,the Phenomenal 5IVE (mulit-disciplinary showcase); all of which are highly anticipated events by the Montreal spoken word lovers in the city. Sensing a need to return to his Theatrical roots, Ferguson joined the Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program. This has been a defining moment in his career as an actor. Though absent from the Theatre community for a decade and a half, his is swiftly gaining traction.

During his time in the 2015-2016 Black Theatre Workshop Artist Mentorship Program he has launched his first spoken word album: Born Jamhaitianadian on March 11, 2016. Now he is currently working on adapting his autobiographical screenplay into a theatre play that will be presented as a one-man show. He has also landed roles
in short films, commercials and others all while simultaneously producing his regular events.

A workaholic whose love is entrenched in art, with humility, gratitude and an openness to learning Kym Dominique-Ferguson continues to strive towards greatness.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Nardine Gharsa - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Nardine, often introduced to the stage as “Queen Nardine,” values authenticity and integrity in her writing. Through her poetry and music she communicates as if her performances were a conversation between two individuals, separating out the world’s tangles to uncover truths, much like the tangled curls she has learned to love. She symbolises all that it means to be a woman coming into power, with a perfect balance of strength and humility in her art. Her unique ability to effortlessly flow complex ideas through voice and melody wins hearts immediately and has quickly established her as one of Sydney’s most exciting performers. She is dropping her debut EP this year, that will surely see her develop into an Australian hip hop and story-telling icon.

Introducing Spoken Word Artist Audrey Lane Cockett - fellow participant in the Banff Spoken Word Programme

Audrey Lane is a poet, spoken word artist, arts organizer, gardener, and dreamer.

Her rhythmic and multi dimensional metaphors capture and immerse you in work that explores wildness outside and in.

Themes of mental health awareness, the natural world, and gender equality often percolate into her poems.

In the daylight hours she works as a park naturalist and outdoor educator in Calgary, Alberta.

She is an alumnus of the Canadian Wilderness Artist Residency on the Yukon River and the Victoria Spoken Word Festival. She was a member of Calgary’s 2016 Slam Poetry Team, represented Victoria at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in 2014, and has been published in the Journal of Wild Culture.

During her travels she has followed poetry into countless cafes, bar basements, riverbanks, street corners, theatres, and community halls. She has not once regretted it.

Audrey Lane believes art is an avenue for strengthening community, education, and connection to place. She is invested in exploring poetry and its intersections with other art forms, learning, teaching, healing, and change.

Website: www.audreylane.xyz