Montreal’s Deanna Smith is performing at this year’s festival.
Performers from across Canada in Calgary for event
Since it began in 2004 the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival has always offered a diverse array of performers but this year is the first time their words and wisdom will live on in a book.
There have certainly been participants with unique names in the past but northern B.C. poet Magpie Ulysses making her festival debut stands out. And while crazy antics onstage are nothing new the Feast O’ Fools event is sure to draw attention if a possible bout of Jell-O wrestling goes ahead.
“Sheri-D Wilson (the festival’s founder) and I have been talking about some Jell-O wrestling” says Vancouver poet Billeh Nickerson one of the writers slated to perform. “I don’t know if spatially that’s going to work and I’m worried about people in the audience getting their clothes stained so that may or may not happen.”
There’s another possible snag he adds. “I wanted grape Jell-O but Sheri-D wanted cherry so we’ll see what happens.”
With or without Jell-O Wilson is confident the festival will offer audiences a compelling experience. While its schedule is a little shorter than last year and features fewer artists she believes what might seem like less will in fact be more. Think quality not quantity.
“I think this year it’s a very interesting festival and very focused” she says. “I think a week-long festival is good. I think it kind of got crazy last year.”
One of the major focuses this year will be on the Spoken Word Workbook an interactive book and website for aspiring writers which many of the festival’s performers are contributing to. Wilson who’s spearheading the project asked all performers to make three submissions to the book regarding the history — a term she’s leaving open to interpretation — of writing and performance but she is adamant it’s not simply an instruction manual.
“It’s sort of educational and it’s sort of inspirational in the sense that it’s not a book that says ‘Oh this is how you write poetry and this is what a poem is and this is what I wrote and this is what so-and-so wrote and this is how you study.’ It’s more of a hands-on direct challenge to the reader. It’s prompts and has ideas for anyone who wants to write.”
Nickerson who’s one of the anthology’s contributors is providing a selection from his fast-food-themed volume McPoems which is advice for learning about the history of spoken word and an exercise on how to revise your work by thinking backwards. His mango salsa recipe didn’t make the cut but he’s still enthusiastic about the book’s potential.
“She’s just got such an amazing amazing variety and diversity of authors” he says of Wilson. “Younger authors John Giorno who’s one of the Beats people from across North America. I’m just so honoured to be a part of it and I know it’s going to be a great resource for teachers and lovers of spoken word.”
While Nickerson says he’ll likely present both a funny and “naughty” piece at Feast O’ Fools the event won’t be entirely lighthearted. Ulysses — who adopted her moniker because a friend dubbed her a “human magpie” because she is always collecting things — is also participating and has no plans to soften the sharper edges of her work. She includes humour in her poetry but uses it to examine serious topics such as love and addiction.
“I always place comedy in my work it’s definitely a part of it but a lot of it’s pretty dark” she says.
“I don’t think fools necessarily are always funny. I think fools can also be very adept at uncovering things in our lives that we don’t normally want to look at and sort of pushing boundaries.”
While it’s somewhat contrary to popular perception both Nickerson and Ulysses believe Calgary actually has a very dynamic poetry scene. The city’s uncultured conservative reputation in much of the country Nickerson says doesn’t match the vibrant reality he’s encountered in his multiple appearances at former festivals.
“A lot of people think that Calgary is cowboy hats and Stephen Harper and all these folks and when you come you realize Calgary’s such a diverse city and such a wonderful city and there’s so many amazing artists. And Calgary supports the arts in ways a lot of other cities don’t.”
Wilson is proud of the local artists the festival has nurtured in the past and the international artists it continues to attract. She may have trimmed the number of performers at this year’s festival — though it remains the largest of its kind in Canada — but the performances continue to be of high calibre.
“We’re very lucky to have this festival in Calgary” she says. “It’s a huge opportunity for Calgarians to see the best of spoken word and I do bring who I think are the best.”
Artist profiles
• John Giorno New York – Giorno met Andy Warhol who became an important influence for Giorno’s developments in poetry performance and recordings. He was the subject of Warhol’s first film Sleep and in 1984 he founded the AIDS Treatment Project.
• Eugene Stickland Calgary — Stickland has enjoyed a 10-year stint as Alberta Theatre Projects’ playwright-in-residence and has written six plays for ATP and many others for theatre companies across the country.
• Quincy Troupe New York — Troupe is an award-winning poet bestselling author editor and professor at the University of California in San Diego. He is the author of Miles: The Autobiography about Miles Davis.
• Tanya Davis Halifax — Davis created the video poem How to be Alone which went viral on the Internet with over 2.5 million views on YouTube. She has released three albums and her first book Act First Lonely is slated to be launched in June.
• Robert Priest Toronto — Priest is a poet and songwriter. His words have been debated in the legislature quoted in the Farmers’ Almanac and turned into the hit Song Instead of a Kiss by Alannah Myles.
