Some of the best poets in the nation will gather in Victoria from Oct. 13 to 18 for Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.
The festival will feature performances from Canada’s top spoken word poets and a poetry slam tournament, with 22 teams from across the country competing to be national poetry slam champions.
Performances and preliminary slam competitions will take place downtown, at the Victoria Event Centre and Rifflandia HQ, with the national slam semi-finals and finals taking place at Alix Goolden Hall.
Every day of the festival brings multiple events. Highlights include:
• How Many Laureates Does It Take to Change the World? (Oct. 13, 8 p.m. at Victoria Event Centre). Features four spoken word artists who serve as municipal poet laureates, including Janet Rogers (Victoria), Kris Demeanour (Calgary), El Jones (Halifax), and Mary Pinkoski (Edmonton). Hosted by Victoria’s current and former Youth Poet Laureates, Morgan Purvis and Aysia Law.
• National Poetry Slam Championship Finals (Oct. 18, 8 p.m. at Alix Goolden Hall). Canada’s top four poetry slam teams compete for the title of national champions. Performances from the 2014 CFSW Poets of Honour, internationally-acclaimed multidisciplinary Métis artist Moe Clark, and Ikenna “OpenSecret” Onyegbula, the 2014 World Cup of Poetry champion and a four-time national poetry slam champion.
• RELEASE! (Oct. 16, 11 p.m. at Victoria Event Centre). Saskatoon’s Megan Lane performs her Victoria release show for her new album, Sounding the Animal, which was produced by Hawksley Workman.
• Pictures of Sound (Tuesday, Oct. 13, 4 p.m. at Rifflandia HQ). A showcase of video-poems, featuring Victoria’s Jeremy Loveday, 2010 World Cup of Poetry champion Ian Keteku, and Canadian spoken word luminary, Sheri-D Wilson.
For the full schedule, artist biographies, and information on how to purchase tickets and passes, please go online to CFSW.ca.