Tonight: The Poet’s Are Coming

Okay the poets are coming. Actually they’re already here. But tonight some of them will be gathering to read and collaborate with a live band, so if you want to have a beer with Hal and take in the Word of Mouth poetry night, come on down. As added enticement I’m bringing along some copies of my magazine Broken Pencil, and anyone who comes up to me and tells me they read this blog post gets one. You’ll know me ’cause I’ll be the guy in the Hello, I’m Special t-shirt.

So let me tell you a bit of what I’ve found out about the Word of Mouth poets performing tonight. Valerie Mason-John is a London based playwright, novelist, conflict resolution consultant, and performer. I’ve had a chance to spend a bit of time with her and I can tell you that she has the kind of presence that commands a room, that makes you stand up and take notice. No project seems too daunting for her to take on. If you get a chance, ask her about the time she spent in India  writing a book about the ongoing plight of women trapped in the untouchable caste. Tonight, I suspect we’ll be seeing Valerie take on the role of her alter-ego Queenie, described on her website as “one of the most startling subversions of racial imagery you’re ever likely to see on any side of the social divide.”

Another artist from overseas performing tonight is Morganics. Coming to us from Sydney, Australia, this soft-spoken gentleman blends world beats, hip-hop and his own unique Aussie sensibility. I went to his website to check out some of his music and found out that not only is he an accomplished writer and musician, but he’s also heavily involved in his community. Click on Listen and you get not just his songs, but also recordings of songs he’s worked on with high school kids in Bali, and up-and-coming aboriginal rappers in the outback. Very cool.

Okay so add Agnes Walsh, the poet laureate of Newfoundland, and Andrew Weddeburn, local Calgary indie musician and author of the very funny, sad, sly first novel Milk Chicken Bomb and you’ve got a pretty sweet night, right? But we’re not even done yet. Tonight we’ll also get to hear from one of my favourite Canadian writers, Toronto’s Mr. Stuart Ross. A indie publishing activist, poet, and fiction writer, Ross is equal parts Kafka and Krusty the Clown, a downbeat deadpan chronicler of the absurdities of modern life. At Wordfest he’s been handing out a poem called I Have Lived. Here’s a sample (for the rest you’ll just have to drop by tonight):

“I have lived in a water-filled/plastic container/that once held spumoni ice cream./I swam in endless circles/but could find neither television/nor hula-hoop and thus/had nothing to do but swim,/my whiskers brushing/the cylinder’s smooth inner walls.”

I asked Stuart how he was planning to work with the band. He rolled his eyes and told me: “Oh man, it’s a hip hop guy, a spoken word performer, and me. I’m dead man. I’m finished.” I don’t buy it for a second. Author of ten plus books, and you know what? — he’s just getting started.