November 4, 5, 6

Thursday Evening
November 5, 7:30 pm

World Premiere – Words Aloud: The Spoken Word Festival that Moves an Audience to its Feet

• Location: Durham Art Gallery, 251 George Street East, Durham
• Cost: Pay-what-you-can

Saturday Afternoon
November 7, 1:00 pm

Poetry Slam Fest #1

Do you like your poetry hard and fast? Then you won’t want to miss this year’s poetry slam. Watch Toronto’s Dream Team compete and various local bards (led by Owen Sound Poet Laureate Kristan Anderson). Barbara Adler, a Vancouver sensation, is this year’s feature performer. Vote for your favorites or step up to the plate yourself. Just bring three poems of approximately three minutes each. And take a big breath. Youth are especially welcome. Open stage to start.

• Location: Owen Sound Grey Union Public Library Auditorium
• Cost: Pay-what-you-can

Sunday Afternoon
November 8 1:00 pm

Poetry Slam Fest #2

And because you can never get enough slam, Toronto’s Dream Team will also perform toe-to-toe with area slammers at the Durham Town Hall, duking it out for the right to wear this year’s slam crown. So if you dream of intoxicating tongues, twisting and turning your soul into a twittering tizzy or just want to have a darn good time, come out and experience what the slam hype all about. Open stage to start.

• Location: Durham Town Hall
• Cost: Pay-what-you-can

Friday Evening
November 6, 7:30 pm

Hilary Peach

Hilary Peach (British Columbia) is a writer, recording artist, arts activist, and producer. She has performed extensively for two decades, and released two CDs: Poems Only Dogs Can Hear (2003), and Suitcase Local (2009), an adaptation of her folk opera of the same name. Publications include 10 Flowered Cactus (1996), Love is a Small Town (2001) and various anthologies and magazines. She is founder and Artistic Director of the Poetry Gabriola Festival and the BC-Yukon National representative for the League of Canadian Poets.

Drew Hayden Taylor

Drew Hayden Taylor (Ontario) is an Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations. He is the author of 20 books and describes himself as a contemporary storyteller who bridges the cultural gap by tickling the funny bone. He is an award-winning playwright, a journalist/columnist, short-story writer, novelist, script writer and has worked on over 17 documentaries. His new novel, Motorcycles and Sweetgrass, published by Random House, will be released in February.

Adeena Karasick

Adeena Karasick (New York/Ontario) is a poet, media-artist and the award-winning author of six books of poetry and poetic theory. Karasick has lectured and performed worldwide and regularly publishes articles, reviews and dialogues on contemporary poetry, poetics and cultural/semiotic theory. Her book Amuse Bouche was just released from Talonbooks and her provocative I Got a Crush on Osama video featured on Fox News. She teaches Poetry and Global Literature at St. John's University in New York,

Saturday Evening
November 7, 7:30 pm

Jemeni

Jemeni (Ontario) is a writer, activist, hip hop artist and broadcaster. Born in Grenada, raised in St. Catherines, Jemeni’s work has been published internationally. Her No More Dating DJs won the 2004 Spoken Word Recording of the Year and Best Electronica recording at the Canadian Urban Music Awards. As an actress, she has appeared in Da Kink, the Vagina Monologues and is a regular on Muchmusic's Video on Trial and was a panelist for the 2008 CBC Canada Reads.

Paul Dutton

Paul Dutton (Ontario) is a poet, novelist, essayist, and oral sound artist, internationally renowned for both his literary and musical performances. He was a member of the legendary Four Horsemen sound poetry quartet (1970–1988). Dutton’s artistic focus continues to be the exploration of consciousness and perception through the creation of multi-sensory works, employing written poetry and prose, visual poetry, and the sonic dimensions of language and oral expression.

Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry)

(Ontario/British Columbia) More than twenty years after her first musical release, Issa continues to be known for hauntingly beautiful music and artistic innovation. With more than eleven major recordings, her own independent label, and classics such as Mimi on the Beach, I Muse Aloud, One More Colour and Calling All Angels, she has also published three books of poetry, including Swan and One Room Schoolhouse. In 2008, she released Dragon Dreams, her first album under the name Issa.

Sunday Afternoon
November 8, 3:00 pm

Taqralik

Taqralik (Quebec) Originally from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Taqralik (Partridge) is a spoken word artist, writer and throat singer of Inuit and Scottish heritage. Taqralik brings the haunting cadences of Inuit throat singing, along with street-level wordscape of her new home of Montreal, resulting in a refreshing blend of tundra and urban. She performed at Westfest in Ottawa, with Geronimo Inutiq ( aka DJ Mad Eskimo), at Words and Music in Montreal, and has been featured on CBC Radio2 Canada Live.

Barbara Adler

Barbara Adler is a Vancouver-based spoken word artist, writer, musician and workshop facilitator. Known for her ability to mix intellectual poetics with entertaining observations about the quirkier moments of everyday life, Barbara has collaborated with composers, dancers, filmmakers and theater artists, creating “smart, funny, and often deeply moving poetry” (Georgia Straight). She has been a CBC Poetry Laureate, a Regional CBC Poetry Face Off Winner, and a Canadian Team Slam Champion. She is a founding member of the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated band, The Fugitives.

John B. Lee

(Ontario) A recipient of over sixty prestigious international awards, including the $10,000 CBC Literary Award for Poetry, Lee is the only two time recipient of the People’s Poetry Award . He has more than fifty books published and is the editor of seven anthologies. His work has appeared internationally in over 500 publications and has been translated into French, Spanish, Korean, Hungarian and Chinese. In 2005 John B. Lee was made Poet Laureate of Brantford, in perpetuity.

Saturday Morning
November 7, 9:30 am - 11:30 am

Look Ma, No Hands! with Barbara Adler

Spoken word poetry can be a little daunting, but this workshop will help take off the training wheels with performance and writing exercises such as “The Box of Doom”, “Hyperbole Death Match”, and “Punching Your Internal Censor in The Nose.” Barbara has presented hundreds of workshops in high schools, elementary schools, jails, and creativity retreats. An exciting introduction to spoken word and an opportunity for feedback from one of Canada’s top spoken word performers.

Saturday Afternoon
November 7, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Writing Out Loud with Hilary Peach

When poetry refuses to stay on the page, it becomes a physical experience. In this fun and interactive session, learn how to build on a small detail through a layering of techniques, and develop the text through a lightning-fast performance exercise. Be prepared to take home a surprising result - and a new piece for your repertoire. Hilary Peach has been a practitioner of physical and literary performance technique for twenty years.

Saturday Afternoon
November 7, 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

It's All About the Sound with Paul Dutton

Explore your sounding capacity - where sound takes precedence over meaning - with guidance from one of the world's foremost practitioners of oral sound art. An intensive two-hour, introductory workshop suited to anyone with an interest in voice and sounding growth, in literary, musical, theatrical, or strictly private contexts. Participants will learn new techniques and lay the foundation for further development with ear-opening exercises, relaxation, breathing and projection techniques.

New this year!
Sunday morning
November 8, 11:00 am

Between the Words with Issa

For those with an interest in the creative process, this is a rare opportunity to witness a consummate artist pulling back the creative veil. Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry) will explain her “sometimes unusual” (her words) way of melding lyrics with music and will illustrate by performing a few songs. Expect a wide range of ideas from a musical poet who has truly taken the road less travelled. Questions from the audience are welcomed. Not to be missed! Cost: $15 (suggested).