WordPlay makes poetry come alive

The program was established in January 2005, making it the longest-running booking agency focused on spoken word. With 12 of Vancouver’s most talented and experienced spoken word artists, WordPlay connects event planners to dynamic, engaging poets ready to wow audiences of all backgrounds.

WordPlay poets stage spoken word performances, host events, make keynote speeches, and conduct workshops in dozens of venues every year, everything from high schools to writers’ festivals, community centres to business conferences. No matter how large or small your event, we have the right spoken word artist for you.

Our Aspirations

Increase poetry’s relevance to the general public.

Exposing people to a living, breathing spoken word experience helps bring poetry into the present. Even literate, educated adults can often feel separated from poetry by time, language and content. WordPlay presents them with contemporary poets who are active in their community. They provide crucial context for the study and appreciation of literature.

Give people from all walks of life the tools and inspiration to create and perform their own work.

Providing people with the means and opportunity to write their own poems empowers and emboldens their voices and their confidence. The pressures and stresses of today’s world makes it difficult to create space and time for creative exploration. WordPlay’s well-crafted workshops create that space. Our dynamic writing and performance exercises encourage youth and adults alike to explore the boundaries of their own personal expression.

Develop new audiences for poetry.

Every individual who experiences spoken word for the first time is a potential poet, patron, or audience member in the community. The energy created by these performances is often left unharnessed, leaving listeners without an avenue to explore their reactions. WordPlay’s talented performers and facilitators make sure that this potential is realized.

WordPlay Workshops Online

Anjalica Solomon filmed one of her WordPlay Workshops so you can keep learning about poetry while we are social distancing. The workshop is one in a sequence of videos Vancouver Poetry House put together to help you make films from your poems.

The sequence of videos are up on the WordPlay Hullabaloo Channel.