Authors
Anjalica Solomon is a celebrated poet and multidisciplinary artist whose poetic work proclaims the possibilities of love and resilience, testifying to a deep faith in beauty, the power of nature, and ultimately, the human capacity to salvage integrity, radiance and joy from moments of struggle. In this way, Anjalica Solomon's poems and vibrant live performances offer robust visions of hope, tenacity, and love.
Based in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, Nations, they are an expansively queer, genderfluid, Desi creator who intertwines poetry, music, and theatre. They are currently an MFA candidate at the Unuversity of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing.
Jeremy Loveday is an award-winning poet, spoken word artist, and community builder
based in Victoria, BC, on the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People. As co-founder
and longtime Artistic Director of the Victorious Voices youth poetry festival, Jeremy has
helped hundreds of young poets find their first stage.
His work has appeared in publications such as CBC, National Observer, CV2, Funicular
Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry 2023, and Claudia, a leading Brazilian magazine.
Jeremy was the 2020 winner of the Zaccheus Jackson Nyce Memorial Award. After
more than two decades of performing poetry, Maybe the Starling is his first full-length
collection.
Sheri-D Wilson is a prolific author of 15 books of poetry. She's authored 3 produced plays, created 4 short films, and produced 3 word & music albums.
Her work has received many awards and honours, including the Order of Canada, an honorary Doctor of Letters – Honoris Causa from Kwantlen University, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Calgary, the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, and the Women of Vision Award.
A strong advocate for social change & community building in 2003 she founded The Calgary Spoken Word Society and remains the Artistic Director today. For 11 years the society produced a very large Spoken Word Festival and sidekick School Program. In 2005 Sheri-D founded The Spoken Word Program at The Banff Centre and was Director/Head Faculty until 2012.
She splits her time between Calgary & Vancouver, with her dog Willow.
Marie Metaphor Specht is a poet, multidisciplinary artist and educator living on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən- speaking peoples. A long-time member of the Canadian spoken word scene, Marie is the 6th Poet Laureate Emeritus of Victoria, British Columbia (2023-2025). In addition to her independent practice, she has collaborated with filmmakers, lighting engineers, dancers, and musicians to create immersive and interactive works. Marie believes in the transformative power of spoken word and has had the privilege of mentoring and creating space for poets of all ages for nearly two decades. Marie’s poetry has been published in Island Writer Magazine, Poetry Pause, Oratorealis, Untethered Magazine, Chestnut Review, The Hellebore, The Brickyard (by Brick Books) and Room Magazine, among others. Her full-length poetry collection, Soft Shelters is out now with Write Bloody North Publishing (2023).
Komi Olaf is a visual artist and poet currently living in Toronto. As a master’s graduate of Carleton University’s School of Architecture, his training as an architect directly influences his draftsmanship and manipulation of light and space. His work is based primarily in acrylic and explores the dialogue created through the juxtaposition of concepts and identities.
His works have been featured in shows at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the National Arts Center in Ottawa. He has also received several awards pertaining to his works including the Empowerment and Success Award presented by her Excellency Michelle Jean in 2010 and the Student Award for excellence presented by the Canadian Architect Magazine in 2009. Komi is represented by Agora Gallery in New York.
komiolaf.com/
cravery.com
Brandon Wint is an Ontario born poet and spoken word artist who uses poetry to attend to the joys, devastations and inequities associated with this era of human and ecological history. Increasingly, his work on the page and in performance casts a tender but robust attention toward the movements and impacts of colonial, capitalist logic, and how they might be undone. In this way, Brandon Wint is devoted to a poetics of world making, world altering and world breaking.
For Brandon, the written and spoken word is a tool for examining and enacting his sense of justice, and imagining less violent futures for himself and the world he has inherited. For more than a decade, Brandon has been a sought-after, touring performer, and has presented his work in the United States, Australia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Jamaica. His poems and essays have been published in national anthologies, including The Great Black North: Contemporary African-Canadian Poetry (Frontenac House, 2013) and Black Writers Matter (University of Regina Press, 2019). Divine Animal is his debut book of poetry.
Brandonwint.com
Since getting her start as a young spoken word artist in California, she has brought her writing to stages across North America. In 2011 she placed second in the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam, and continues to share her work at events ranging from literary festivals to labour union conventions, from showcases in ornate theatres to house shows in someone's basement.
Her work has been anthologized in Alive At The Center: Contemporary Poems from the Pacific Northwest (Ooligan Press, 2011) and published in print and online. Lucia's first collection of poetry will be released by Write Bloody North in the fall of 2019.
A veteran arts educator, Lucia is committed to helping others—especially youth—step into their creative, personal, and political power through writing. She facilitates spoken word workshops with WordPlay: Poetry In Schools, as an ArtStarts Poet in Residence, and a teaching artist at youth camps up and down the West Coast.
Luciamisch.com
