Brendan McLeod
This Sunday, April 22nd, TiP is pleased to present Brendan McLeod.
Brendan McLeod is a Canadian spoken word artist, musician and novelist. His work often deals with the exploration of social and political commentary, family histrionics, surreal love poems, obscure adventure stories, and powerful personal stories.
As a spoken word artist and slam poet, he has earned the honours of Canadian SLAM poetry champion (2004), Vancouver SLAM poetry champion (2005), and finished second at the 2005 World SLAM championships, held in Holland. In 2006 McLeod was winner of the Three-Day Novel Contest and consequently his first novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley was published by Arsenal Pulp Press. The novel has been called both “creepy but…good”and a work of “buoyant irony”
McLeod is also a member of The Fugitives, a “wildly talented spoken-word-cranked” Vancouver-based band also including Adrian Glynn, Steven Charles and Barbara Adler. Notable former members of The Fugitives include C.R. Avery and Mark Berube. The group has been classified under many guises including slam folk, folk hop, and spoken word cabaret.
This week’s slam will feature the top ranked poets in Saskatoon, and the winner will go on to represent Saskatoon at the Vancouver International Poetry Festival (Canadian Indies) in Vancouver this April. Not only that, but we’ve got one of the best slam poets in the United States coming here to perform. The show starts at 8 this Sunday, and it will be one that you won’t want to miss. Not convinced yet? Here’s some more info on our feature:
Christian Drake is a six-time National Poetry Slam team member and has performed on three National Poetry Slam Finals stages. Originally and currently from New England, he was previously a host of popular slams, poetry shows and burlesques in San Francisco, CA and Albuquerque, NM. His poetry has been performed on at least three continents and covered by hundreds of high school forensics students, and he himself has performed in over sixty cities in the U.S. and Canada. He has never appeared on HBO, but has been featured on Al Jazeera.
Christian’s earned his reputation in the slam world by combining finely-crafted poetry with wild, rock-and-roll-inspired performance. A poet of outstanding variety, his repertoire includes poetry about heartbreak, music formats, war, nature, pornography, immigration, gardening, mythology, love, and the relative merits of period sex. He’s best known for his often loud, erotic, and political nature poetry; currently a science teacher in the New England wilderness, his work as an aquarium naturalist, planetarium guide, urban forester and park ranger has influenced his craft. The effect is, to quote one audience member, ‘like nature poetry filtered through a guitar amp.’
It’s that time of the month again: POETRY SLAM TIME. This month we have a national champ Ahmed Knowmadic from Edmonton, Alberta. And this slam is going to rule.
A little about our poet:
Ahmed is a Somali-born, Canadian-raised spoken word poet who has been writing and performing poetry for 3 years. Ahmed is one of the founders of Edmonton’s Breath in Poetry Collective. He is actively involved in the community facilitating workshops under the Breath In Poetry Collective. Ahmed was a member of the 2010 inaugural Edmonton Slam Team which placed 5th at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. In 2011, he returned to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, and was a member of the Edmonton Slam team which won the National Championship at the festival. Ahmed is highly involved in the African community raising awareness through poetry.
(HE ALSO GOT SECOND PLACE IN THE UNDERGROUND INDIES).
WHAT THE HELL IS A Poetry SLAM?
Slam Rules
1) Poems must be original work that was composed by the speaker. You may repeat poems at subsequent slams, though we encourage you to write often and present fresh material.
2) Two-poem requirement; a different poem for each round.
3) No costumes (a costume is anything you wouldn’t normally wear), props (is considered something you bring on stage that could be seen to enhance your performance) or instruments (you can beat box, sing, slap your legs or chest but you can’t us a guitar or harmonica or kazoo, for example).
4) No group performances unless we call for a group-theme slam.
5) Sign-up is first-come-first-serve, however, if you’ve performed before you will be added to a waiting list and will be included in the evening’s slam if there are no new slammers. Sign-up occurs between 7 and 8 the evening of the slam.
6) In the event of a tie, the slam master will devise a tie-breaking lightening round where poets will have to perform on the spot. (ie: freestyle battle, haiku off).
The format for the haikus is: five syllables, seven, five and those are as always the only parameters!
This week Haiku are turning deadly!!! Get your haiku ready for the second Death Match of the Season!
What’s a Haiku Deathmatch? A Haiku Death Match is a literary fight to death. Using only haiku that participants themselves have written, they will battle it out to see who will be crowned champion!
What’s a haiku? A haiku is a poem consisting of three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. You got that? 1st line-5 syllables, 2nd line-7, and 3rd line-5. Traditionally, haiku is a Japanese form, most often used to describe aspects of the natural world. For our purposes, though, the theme a poet chooses doesn’t matter – they can be funny, sad, sexy, bizarre, whatever. Poets should also keep in mind that since the haiku is read aloud, the emphasis will be on the number of syllables (17) not the lines.
Here’s an example:
the worst time to have
a heart attack is during
a game of charades
How the Death Match works: Up to 16 poets will sign-up on a first come, first serve basis (7pm). In head to head match-ups, poets will take turns reading their original haiku and the the entire audience will be the judge.
The winners of each match will move onto the next round until two haiku competitors remain. In a final round, the two poets will battle for the title of HAIKU MASTER of SASKATOON!
Things Poets Will Need:
1) A total of 12 haiku–three for each round.
2) The fortitude and strength to fight to the death…with their words.
Sign-up will be first come, first serve starting at 7pm on Sunday! Be there.
TIP is partnering with the Avenue Community Centre to bring you a Queer and Ally Valentines Day Poetry Night as part of Eat Your Art Out, Judy Garland! Wow. That’s a lot to digest I know but it’s going to be awesome. Bring your sappy love poems, you sex positive poems, your queer positive poems, and yes your broken heart poems and we will throw down and be happy and sad and heartbroken and lovey-dovey all at once. Be there at Lydia’s this Sunday at 8pm for this one-of-a-kind event!
So far on the stage we have:
Trish Salah, Wes Funk, Belinda Betker, Sara Waldbillig. But we want more!!! Come on down!!!
More info about Eat Your Art Out, Judy Garland at:
http://eyaojudy.wordpress.com/events/
A bit about our featured poet:
Trish Salah is a Canadian feminist writer and educator. Her first volume of poetry, Wanting in Arabic, was published in 2002 by TSAR Publications.
Salah was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is of Lebanese and Irish Canadian heritage. She later studied creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal, and subsequently completed a Ph.D. in English Literature at York University in Toronto. She currently teaches at Bishop’s University and Concordia University. Her creative and scholarly work addresses transgender and transsexual themes, as well as questions of diasporic Arab identity, anti-racism, queer politics and social and economic justice. Her poetry moves between and combines traditional and experimental forms.
Calling all female poets: Tonight It’s Poetry: Empowering Women and Girls ft. National Slam Champ Mary Pinkoski is coming this Sunday, 8pm at Lydia’s!
This is a very special TIP event. We are partnering with the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation to bring you an exciting night of words and stories relating to the empowerment of girls and women! We also have one of my personal favourite poets, the always powerful, profound and empowered Mary Pinkoski, fresh off her first victory as captain of the national champion Edmonton Slam Team! She was also voted Most Valuable Poet at CFSW 2011!!! She’s awesome!
As if that weren’t reason enough to attend, there’s also this: SCIC is doing a people’s choice awards from poets performing at the show. They will videotape the poems and people will vote for their favorite online. The prize? A free consultation with Brendan McLeod!
Now a bit about Mary: A storyteller at heart, Mary has presented her unique style of spoken word throughout Canada and the United States. Her work has been recognized for its dynamism and visceral qualities. She was captain of 2011 National Championship Edmonton slam team, at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Mary was voted Most Valuable Poet of the 2011 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. She was a finalist in the 2011 Edmonton Poetry Laureate competition, as well as a finalist at the 2011 Canadian Individual Slam Championship. Mary was the winner of the 2008 National CBC Poetry Faceoff. In addition to gracing stages, Mary conducts workshops in spoken word. Mary’s most current chapbook is love is a tree you planted. For more information visit www.marypinkoskipoetry.com.
Come out to Lydia’s Pub at 8:00pm this Sunday, January 29th for our first slam of the year! It’s slam time again and Christmas is back! We have a very very special guest from Vancouver: Jillian Christmas! Don’t miss this amazing woman, her amazing voice and her amazing stories. (for more info on the poetry slam visit our Slam Rules page).
Jillian Christmas is a poet & musician with a penchant for love stories and heart-heavy lullabies, born and raised in Markham, Ontario she currently lives in Vancouver, BC. She is an enthusiastic collector of wayward hearts, warm hugs and random celestial-experiences; spinning them all into stanzas that sound so sweet on her tongue that they drip from her lips like honey.
Making her spoken word debut in January 2009, she quickly won herself a spot on Toronto’s 2009 Rustbelt Poetry Slam team, then in May 2009 performed on CBC’s Radio-1. She is the founder of Toronto’s Peace Pipe Poetry Sessions, Vancouver’s BedRocc 2011 Slam Champion and is currently on the west coast, touring her latest spoken word LP entitled Moth.
Jill Christmas has been a feature performer at such events as Word Jam, Grad Club (Queen’s University), Sticks & Stanzas and Burlington Slam Project. She has also performed at such shows as CFSW 2010, Toronto Poetry Slam, Capital Slam, $100 Slam, QEW Slam 2009, Rustbelt Regional Slam, Vancouver Slam, OMRE Poetry Concert and Human Health Theatre and more.
She a founding- member of an exciting all female poetry troupe called Chocolate Fountain, including BethAnne Fischer, Truth Is… and Kiki. As well as the founder of the soul/ spoken word band The Maladies.”
Ok. I know I say this every week but this time I mean it: Johnny MacRae is my favourite poet out there right now. He killed it last time he was through town, and now he’s back, armed with an amazing arsenal of new insanely brilliant poems. You have to come see this show. Come out to Lydia’s Pub this Sunday at 8pm.
A bit about Johnny:
The first ever Canadian Underground Indie Slam Champion, a member of the 2009 and 2010 Vancouver Poetry Slam teams, one of 2 Dope Boys in a Cadillac, and the 2010 Van Slam Grand Champion, Johnny MacRae is a self-identified shithouse poet. He’s been called A Douchebag, a scraggly bear riding a circus bike, and many other hurtful things. He has designated himself Public Enema Number One, and his feet hate shoes.
Our first show back after the New Year is a big one. Huge actually. This Sunday, January 8th, we have Canadian spoken word legend Scruffmouth coming to town to blow your poetic minds. Check it out:
Kevan Cameron, also known as Scruffmouth is a spoken poet, performer and writer with the ability to condense issues of social justice, knowledge of self, identity, philosophy, history and freedom into creative poems for the page and the stage. He is a veteran of the North American poetry slam scene and has had poems published in We Have A Voice: An Anthology of African and Caribbean Student Writing; Blood Ink: A University of Alberta Literary Journal and Sudden Thunder. He is creative director for Black Dot Roots and Culture Collective, a group of artists and professionals with the vision to connect the dots of the community through education, creation and celebration of the heritage of peoples of African descent. He is currently working on his debut album and an anthology of Black Canadian poetry.
Show up at Lydia’s around 7:30pm for a good seat, the show starts between 8:00-8:30.
Tonight! This is the last slam of the year so bring out your best! And we are so very happy to have Saskatoon’s own, Leah Horlick back for the holidays as our awesome feature!
She needs no introduction, but for those who don’t know Leah:
Leah Horlick is a poet and spoken word performer from Saskatoon. She has presented her best work at venues including Tonight It’s Poetry and the Saskatoon Poetry Slam, Bluestockings in NYC, and the Vancouver Poetry Slam. Her poems have been published in Grain and are forthcoming in So To Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Art. Her first chapbook was produced with artist Alison Cooley and JackPine Press, and her first collection of poetry will be released by Thistledown Press in the fall of 2012. She is currently living and writing in Vancouver while completing her MFA in Creative Writing at UBC and working as incoming poetry editor of PRISM international magazine.
