Category Archives: Canada

Boonaa Mohammed

Canada No Comments

Dubbed the “voice of a generation,” Boonaa Mohammed is a critically acclaimed award winning writer and performer with accolades including a playwright residency at Theatre Passe Muraille, a short story published in a Penguin Canada anthology called Piece by Piece and various slam poetry titles including winner of the 2007 CBC Poetry Face-Off “Best New Artist” award. As an Artist he has toured and traveled across the world and frequently conducts writing workshops and seminars, sharing his experience and expertise in social justice based story telling with mainly youth from all walks of life.

Native Son

Canada No Comments

Marvin Trimm aka (Native Son) is a writer, poet, spoken word artist, motivational speaker and musician. He has been engaged in the world of literary and performance art for 20 years. It is this passion for the arts that has led him to be showcased globally in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean.

A native of the small island of Bermuda, it was there that he honed and developed his craft his craft. In the late 80’s he was able to write, produce and direct his 1st one man show entitled “Life Signs on Planet Earth” a collection of monologues depicting real life characters in social situations.

Today, he continues in the capacity as a writer of performance poetry/spoken word, which he performs at various venues such as spoken word series, poetry slams, music festivals, community events, conferences, universities and prisons. Marvin describes his poetic literary speech as spontaneously truthful. A self pro-claimed “Empowerment Poet”, he often writes about self development, self awareness and self improvement. Marvin is a charismatic storyteller that combines history , social, political issues to enlighten and bring new perspectives about the world we live in.

Karyl Huggees

Canada No Comments

good little children are seen and not heard; so HUGGEES spent early performing years more focused on looking pretty and less on speaking up. with a background in folk dance and steelpan, there were many opportunities to glitter across various stages in north america. HUGGEES left a chorus of primary schoolmates in trinidad and tobago to perform with a family band throughout canada and then later spent a year with a touring performing arts company based in seattle. during that transient time HUGGEES soon looked to thoughts for companionship. after winning a few speech art competitions, a personal relationship with poetry began; organizing spoken word events and performing spoken word quickly followed. HUGGEES now cohosts on community radio in both spoken word and caribbean music programming.
this for HUGGEES is the return from a much needed break from the spotlight. while working with under-served families, HUGGEES uses art as a therapeutic recreation tool. the motivation to engage audiences once more, stems from the continual exposure to communal secrets and the commitment to be more open in order to continue needed conversations around healing. there is power in performance.
HUGGEES is determined to be a carton voice, playwright, dohl player and other artistic ventures as breath allows.

Kaie Kellough

Canada No Comments

Kaie Kellough is a Montréal writer, performer, and general word-sound systemizer. He is the author of Lettricity (Cumulus Press 2004), and Maple Leaf Rag (Arbeiter Ring Publishing 2010), which was nominated for the Manuela Dias award for book design. Kaie is the voice of one sound recording, Vox:Versus, a suite of conversations between voice and instrument.

Kaie’s print and sound work are underwritten by rhythm and by a desire to dis-and re-assemble language and meaning. Kaie’s work emerges where voice, language, music, and text intersect. He blends word-games with sound poetry, dub, and jazzoetry. He has performed and published internationally, and has led sound poetry workshops at the Banff Center for the Arts. Kaie is presently working on short fiction and on poems that say goodbye.

Kemba King

Canada No Comments

kemba king is an artist. healer. storyteller.

she has been writing and sharing her art for over 10 years. in 2009 and 2010 she was a part of the anitafrika dub theatre playwrights-in-residence program where she wrote and co-produced the biomyth monodrama where the stories are told. during the same year, she participated and culminated from the sacred leaders mentorship program from sacred women centres international. she hosted and co-produced a radio show entitled womyn’s words for over 10 years. she also co-directed and co-facilitated the medina collective – an organisation committed to informing and engaging young women of colour in media literacy primarily via hip hop.

Osaze Dolabaille

Canada No Comments

OSAZE DOLABAILLE is a singer, poet and drummer who was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. He was brought to the city of Toronto, in Canada while still very young. It was here that the adult Osaze would be awakened: to the reality of his Afrikan identity, an appreciation of Afrikan history and the validity of Afrikan spirituality. Thus inspired, he has been performing at community events, spoken word and poetry readings, and concerts since 1998.

He is currently the president of Baro Dununba, a Toronto based music ensemble and philanthropic organization. Along with Baro Dununba, he has performed as part of Muhtadi’s World Drummers, Quammie Williams’ JUMP Collective and the New Dimension Steel Orchestra. Poetic collaborations have included the International Festival of Poetry of Resistance and T Dot Griots anthologies. In 2007 he released his first book entitled, Rebirth of the Warrior Poet. This self-publication afforded him the opportunity to participate in both the 2007 Caribbean Canadian Literary Expo and the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes’ Calypso Tents Music Series as part of Caribana 2007 (aka Toronto Caribbean Carnival).

Greg Ritallin Frankson

Canada No Comments

Greg Frankson (a.k.a. Ritallin) is a spoken word artist, arts educator, creative services consultant, writer and social activist based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Greg is a former National Director and currently the Vice-Chair (Communications) for Spoken Word Canada, organizers of the annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. He was the Spoken Word Curator for Westfest for four years and is a co-founder of the award-winning Capital Slam poetry series. He is a roster member for two arts education organizations – MASC, based in Ottawa, and Toronto-based Prologue to the Performing Arts – and a member of the League of Canadian Poets.

Ritallin self-published a political poetic memoir entitled The Halifax Chronicles in 2006 and has released two poetry chapbooks – Coast Poems in 2008 and Mindfull in 2010. His debut poetry collection Cerebral Stimulation was released by BeWrite Books in 2006, and he was included in an anthology of spoken word poetry by Quattro Books entitled Mic Check in 2008. He released the CDs Capital Thoughts in 2005, Poet Psychology Volume I in October 2010 and Poet Psychology Volume II in January 2011. Ritallin appeared on the track Can You Feel It? on the 2007 CD It’s Great to be Fine by Ropeadope Records jazz-ambient band Antizario and the track Uncomfortable by Inuit hip-hop/spoken word artist M.O. in 2009.

D’bi Young

Canada Jamaica No Comments

born in kingston jamaica, raised in whitfield town
birthed from the womb of dub
by anita (poets iin unity) stewart
who raised her child
at orality’s hub
storyteller d’bi.young takes performance live
is celebrated by the people on her way
including receiving two doras for blood.claat
first of the sankofa trio of plays
the second and third are benu and word! sound! powah!
onewomban biomyth monodramas
d’bi. is dubpoet, educator, soul-searching wombanist
also aspiring rawfoodist
played staceyann in da kink in my hair
founded anitafrika! dub theatre
recorded six dub disks
with two collections of poetry published
new album set to blossom late 2010
watching her two sons grow
while currently touring the world

Sabrina Moella

Canada No Comments

Sabrina Moella is a writer, a poet and a filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. Born in France from Congolese parents, she started writing as soon as she was old enough to hold a pen. She now lives in Canada and writes both in English and in French.

Sabrina’s poetry is based on reflective thoughts about her own life. Her films focus on studying and narrating the everyday life, traditions, and culture of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.

She is a member of ‘I Get Out’, a collective of black female storytellers from Toronto. She is also a yoga practitioner who strongly believes in healing through the arts.

Sabrina is currently writing a collection of short stories entitled Mayi.

Quentin Lindsay

Canada No Comments

Quentin “Vercetty” Lindsay is an artist who cares for and knows no boundaries when it comes to his artistic expression. His work includes painting, illustrations, mural works, photography, graphic design and spoken word poetry.
Thus far Quentin has had the opportunity to have his work viewed by well-known and respectable people, including international recording artist K’naan, Melanie Fiona, Kardinal Offishall, The Honorable Jean Augustine and Her Excellency the Right and Honorable Michaëlle Jean.
Believing that art can cause and influence social change Quentin’s artwork and poetry is mainly about uplifting and empowerment through progress and constructive change. Some of Quentin Vercetty’s aspirations are to travel and share his work with different cultures globally, which is how he believes the most artistic growth happens.

Tanya Evanson

Canada No Comments

Tanya Evanson is an Antiguan-Quebecoise Woman
Multilingual Poet, Spoken Word Artist, Vocalist
Whirling Dervish, Arts Organizer, Educator
Montreal-born and based in Vancouver BC Canada
Done five poetry chapbooks
Two spoken wor-l-d music CDs
Performing across Canada since the 90s
Featured in videopoems, documentaries,
Anthologies, international recordings,
National TV and radio
Often backed by musicians
Classically trained Whirling Dervish
Performed across Europe, Turkey and Japan
As Mother Tongue Media,
Produces art events that bridge
Disciplines and cultures
Open your arms if you want to be held