2016 Word After Word Writing Workshops
On three Friday nights in November 2016, two eager groups of aspiring writers with stories to tell met in Grove Hall in Huntingdon, Quebec for the first two Word After Word workshops, sponsored by the Atwater Writers Exhibition (AWE) and the Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF), with support from the Community Cultural Action Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Led by Mark Abley and Joel Yanofsky, the groups explored memoir and fiction writing during six hours of workshops. Writers Iris Delagrange and Carmelita McGrath participated.
On the weekend of March 19-20, 2016, creative writing and spoken-word performance flowered at the Atwater Library. Following an intensive Saturday workshop for teens and seniors, there was exciting public performance on Sunday afternoon attended by 70 people. Leading Montreal spoken-word artists Chris Masson, Moe Clark, Tanya Evanson, Jason “Blackbird” Selman and Cat Kidd shared our auditorium stage with seniors and youth they had mentored earlier in the weekend… and magic resulted! This was a co-production of the Library’s Atwater Writers Exhibition (AWE) and the Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF).
Meet the Artist-Facilitators:
Chris Masson is a writer and performer who has been featured on stages across the country. Some of his poetry was recently published in the anthology Where the Nights Are Twice As Long: Love Letters of Canadian Poets (Goose Lane Editions). He is a founding member of the Throw Poetry Collective, with whom he organizes monthly spoken word events. He also works in media production and facilitates writing workshops with the Quebec Writers’ Federation.
Moe Clark is a nomadic songbird with wings woven from circle singing and spoken word. Poet of Honour at the 2014 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, she’s featured on local and international stages. Her Cree language video nitâhkôtan won best music video at the 2015 ImagiNative Film Festival. Based in Montreal, she has two albums, a bilingual book of poetry and numerous video poems. As a public speaker she’s presented feature talks at REDx (Feb 2016), TedXMontreal (2012) and the 2012 London Olympics.
Tanya Evanson is an award-winning poet, performer, producer and educator. Active since 1996, her spoken word has featured widely across North America, and she has a videopoem, three studio albums and six artist books of poetry under her belt. Based in Montreal, she teaches writing and meditation, is director of Spoken Word at The Banff Centre and is at work on a new album, short film and poetry manuscript called Bothism.
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Jason “Blackbird” Selman is a Montreal born poet and trumpet player. He is the author The Freedom I Stole and co-editor of the poetry anthology Talking Book which chronicles the writings of Kalm Unity Vibe Collective (of which he is a founding member). He is the producer of the Intimate Sky performance series. He has had the privilege of working with Black Theatre Workshop’s Youth Works program for many years as their Poetry/Spoken Word animator. His work is grounded in the themes of ethno-musicology, surrealist expression, love and the intersection of masculinity and emotional vulnerability.
Cat Kidd is a Montreal writer/performer known for her zoology-themed performance poetry, combining narrative verse with dramatic delivery, video installation, and original soundscapes by dj Jacky Murda. Described as “an adult blend of Dr. Seuss and Aesop’s fables” her solo show Sea Peach won the MECCA Award for Best New Text, touring to the Edinburgh Fringe, Toronto Harbourfront’s World Stage, and the Singapore Fringe. She has performed in Whitehorse, Yellowknife, New York, Albuquerque, and Glastonbury. Her poem “Human Fish” opened the Spier Arts Poetry Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, that trip becoming the inspiration for her newest work, Hyena Subpoena. catkidd.com