This is a long distance invitation from me (filming in Portugal Cove, Nfld, in the rain and ice pellets) to you (wherever you are, hopefully warm and dry) to attend the world premiere of the Words Aloud documentary. Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 pm at the Durham Art Gallery.

The Doc features performers from Words Aloud 4, held in 2007. It’s 53 minutes long. And I feel as though I relived each of those minutes over and over. In a good way. I’m still enthralled by the poets, their work, their thoughts, their presence.  You’ll see Lorna Crozier. Shane Koyczan, Robert Priest, Ivan Coyote, and a cast of thousands. No, just kidding. But the Toronto Slam Team appears, and they can conjure up a multitude.

An Original Play by Threadbare Theatre
Saturday, November 7
Victoria Jubilee Hall, Walkerton

Words Aloud 6 Spoken Word Festival, in collaboration with the South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council has done it again! Behold the opportunity to experience an all ages event that you will continue to carry within your imagination for years to come. The Rutabaga Rescue is an original contemporary play with its feet on the earth and its head in the sky. Led by two seasoned puppeteers, Ron Schweitzer and Joel Brubacher, joined by a talented cast of collaborators and volunteers, comprise Threadbare Theatre, the spontaneous combustion of exuberance, talent and socially conscious thought.

Shadow Box Exhibition

For Youth Literacy – October 17 - November 14, 2009

The South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council has invited 50 regional artists to participate in a fundraising art show to be held at the historic storefront of 157 Garafraxa Street S. in Durham. The ARTicles show is composed of 50 six inch shadowboxes which each artist has embellished with their own flair and are donating for this event. A diverse variety of media will be represented and abundant variety demonstrated within the small frames. These precious art pieces will be sold for $100 each, greatly benefiting our volunteer tutor program.

This year, we have three exciting workshops on Saturday November 7th.  And an exciting new price of $25 per workshop or a pass to all the workshops for only $70.

Barbara Adler starts off the morning with "Look Ma, No Hands!" This workshop will warm everyone up with exercises such as "The Box of Doom", "Hyperbole Death Match", and "Punching Your Internal Censor in The Nose." 

This 4 DVD set of the 5th Words Aloud Spoken Word Festival (2008) in Durham, ON. features Canada's lyric virtuoso Don McKay, pun-filled dreams relived by Cat Kidd, and rhymed erotica delivered with foot-tapping zest by George Elliott Clarke. PEN Canada writer-in-exile Sheng Xue mourns the Tiananmen Square massacre and David Batemen's verse works its amusing twists on everyday life. Jamaican born Ayanna Black also graces the stage with heartfelt poetry.

A poetry slam features Toronto's Last Call Poets (Amanda Hiebert, Valentino Assenza, Kevin  Fortnum, TBB! and guest Lara Bozabalian in competition with members of the Grey/Bruce Slam Team. And finally, after polished and funny performances by Molly Peacock & Cree poet/comedian Neal McLeod, dub poet Klyde Broox closes the festival with a standing ovation performance.

Due to a death in the family, M. NourbeSe Philip had to cancel her performance at Words Aloud 6.  We express our regrets and hope to host her at a future Words Aloud festival.  In the mean time, we're happy to announce that Jemeni will be joining us at Words Aloud 6.  Check out her bio under the artists!

Poetry and Short Story Writing Contest

To link with the upcoming performance of The Rutabaga Rescue, performed by Threadbare Theatre at the Victoria Jubilee Hall in Walkerton, Nov.7/09 for the Words Aloud 6 Spoken Word & Storytelling Festival, the South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council invites young people to enter a poem or a one page story about Seeds

There will be four cash prizes of $100 awarded: one each in poetry and short story categories for youth up to 12 years, and one each in poetry and short story categories for youth 13 to 18 years.

Winning writers will be invited to present their work at the performance of The Rutabaga Rescue Nov. 7/09, 1 PM, at the Victoria Jubilee Hall in Walkerton.

These works will also be posted on the Words Aloud and SGB Youth Literacy Council websites and printed in The Walkerton Herald-Times, The Post and on the The Sun Times Poetry Project Website.

Words Aloud - the spoken word festival that brings a small town to its feet.  In Durham, Ontario, Canada's best poets and storytellers electrify audiences of all ages, revealing spoken word's power to delight, inspire and transform.

Canada's best poets and storytellers electrify audiences, revealing spoken word's power to delight, inspire and transform.

This documentary takes you on a journey through the many forms of spoken word, including dub, slam and lyric poetry, performance poetry, and storytelling.  You'll learn what makes a poet, what drives them to creat, what's most difficult about the writing life, and what compels them to continue.  You'll see how a small town creates a vibrant poetic community.

 Narrated by Montreal-based spoken word artist Ian Ferrier, this documentary treats us to an insider's view of the 4 day festival, including footage of the artists performing their best work, behind the scenes interviews, and the story of Adam, an 18 year old high school student (the fifth generation brought up on his family's beef farm), who begins to find his own voice.

The film takes us on a journey through the many forms of spoken word, including dub, slam and lyric poetry, performance poetry, and story telling.  You'll learn what makes a poet, what drives them to create, what's msot difficult about the writing life, and what compels them to continue.

 Poet Ayanna Black who performed at Words Aloud 5 died peacefully, on July 21, 2009, at her residence after a long illness, during which she was lovingly cared for by her partner Eckehard. She will be sadly missed by relatives and her friends in the art and medical communities. A Celebration of Ayanna's Life will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Cardinal Funeral Homes, 366 Bathurst St. (near Dundas). Cremation has taken place. Memorial donations may be made to Women's Art Resource Centre (W.A.R.C.). Online condolences may be made at cardinalfuneralhomes.com.

“Ayanna was not only a fine poet (her collections include Invoking the Spirits, and No Contingencies) and influential anthologist, but also a tireless and selfless promoter of other writers and musicians.  She was a positive person, an activist for feminism and racial equality who rarely complained, but always made a difference." John Oughton

(from the League of Canadian Poets' newsletter)

As this year’s long-awaited spring melds into summer, it’s a little hard to take one’s mind to its mirror opposite, or as Emily Dickinson called it “the Norway of the year”. But luckily for us, even those darkening , leafless days of November hold a bright spot – namely the sixth annual Words Aloud festival that runs the first full weekend- November 6-9, 2009.

The 2008 Festival – a milestone fifth- was a resounding success, with stellar artists, amazing workshops, and one-of-a-kind satellite events, including two poetry slams and a full performance of Prokoviev's Peter and the Wolf at Walkerton's lovely Jubilee Hall.

Over the past few months plans have been put into motion for this year’s festival , including a changing of the guard: Long-time artist director and co-founder of the festival, Liz Zetlin has stepped down from active duty but will thankfully stay connected in an advisory role. (Her documentary on WordsAloud5 will launch this year’s festival) Sadly for us, fellow artistic director and coordinator, Claire Fanger, is leaving Ontario shortly to take up a professorship in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University in Houston Texas. Not surprisingly, it’s taking several people to replace them: Diane Ferguson, who has worked along side Claire and Liz, in training for artistic director, will assume the role officially;  and I am delighted to help out as Diane’s counterpart. Of course, to borrow from another saying “It takes an entire village to raise a festival” and legions of volunteers drawn from Durham and the surrounding area will continue to play a crucial role in assuring the festival’s success.

Here’s where we are to date: Invitations were sent out across the country in February and with very few exceptions the response was a speedy “I’ll be there.” Visit the ARTISTS page to see the remarkable lineup confirmed for Words Aloud 6.

Once again, Dyan Jones, co-ordinator for the Children’s Program, has put together a refreshing, interactive program (a joint production with the South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council) for Walkerton’s Jubilee Hall: a giant – and I mean giant – puppet presentation by Threadbare Theatre featuring puppeteers Ron Schweitzer and Joel Brubacher. 

Another familiar presence to the festival (and Owen Sound’s new Poet Laureate) Kristan Anderson is again, in charge of all-things-slam, including a slam poetry demonstration by the Toronto Slam Team.

Stay tuned.

Carole Warren
 

Here's a trailer for the DVD Liz Zetlin and Myke Dyer created capturing the 2007 festival and that we hope will give you a bit of an idea what we folks get up to in this small rural town of Durham. Enjoy! (Just click on the image and it will pop up and play all of its own accord--guess it's one of those fancy gadgets them city folk rustle up these days!)