Verses Festival of Words, Canada’s largest alternative literary festival, is back for another fabulous year! In 2017, Verses takes place from April 20th – 30th. The festival includes spoken word, storytelling, poetry, and music. We invite people interested in featuring at Verses 2017 to fill out the Artist Application Form below … Continued

In her time as the executive director for VPH, Erin Kirsh has been instrumental to the growth of the organization and its programs. She has taken huge leaps to make VPH a more sustainable organization after guiding us through a difficult year. The Board is sad to see Erin leave VPH, but we wish her … Continued

Come one, come all to Vancouver Poetry House’s general meeting. We will review 2015, providing information about all four VPH programs as well as our recently completed financial statements. When: Saturday, May 21st, 1-2:30 PM Where: Ocean and Crow Yoga Studio (1707 Grant Street) There will also be elections for … Continued

***ASL Interpreter update for the We Believe You Showcase and Open Mic: Sadly, due to unavoidable circumstances this event will no longer feature ASL interpretation. However there will still be interpretation at both Talk the Talk events as well as There Be Monsters. Apologies for any inconvenience or accessibility issues … Continued

Hidden in the mists of the coastal city of Vancouver, between UBC Bus Loop and Boundary Road, there are 10 posters for the upcoming Verses Festival of Words displaying proudly in Translink bus shelters. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take a photo with each of … Continued

In spoken word, be it storytelling or poetry, performers often touch on topics that may be upsetting or challenging to the listener. It is important to us at Verses Festival of Words that we not only take care of the performers who share those difficult stories, but also our audiences. … Continued

Welcome to the March edition of Vancouver Poetry House Staff Picks! This month we are treated to the Top 3 poetic choices of the wonderful Dana Kagis! Dana is a long standing volunteer for Vancouver Poetry Slam, Vancouver Youth Poetry Slam, Verses Festival of Words, and Hullabaloo. She is the … Continued

The competitors for the 2016 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam are in, and it’s looking like it’s going to be an incredible year! Below in alphabetical order are the names of the 40 poets who will be competing for the title of Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Champion! Best of luck to … Continued

Welcome to the February 1st Van Slam Staff Picks! Here we have the Top 3 poems to rock the Van Slam stage as selected by Simon Massey! Simon Massey has been a volunteer extraordinaire at Vancouver Poetry Slam, Verses Festival of Words, Hullabaloo, and the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word … Continued

Great news! Verses Festival of Words is back for another exciting year! All parties interested in featuring in the 2016 Verses Festival of Words taking place from April 21st to May 1st in Vancouver should fill out the following application form. All artists wishing to be considered should submit the … Continued

On November 15th VPH and the Vancouver Slam Family held elections for the upcoming Slam Master role. Matt J. Loeb and Jillian Christmas put their names into the running and a robust and diverse showing of the VanSlam family came out to vote. After a vote between these two fabulous … Continued

Duncan Shields, the current Slam Master, has been a long-serving fantastic program director who has brought success and stability to Vancouver Poetry Slam. After many years in this position, Duncan is stepping down. We are incredibly sad to see him leave and are seeking a new, talented slam master to … Continued

Chris Gilpin, our current Executive Director, has been integral to the growth of VPH over the past seven years that he has served as a staff member and we are very sorry to see him go. Chris leaves VPH in the best position it has ever experienced as an organization, … Continued

Verses Festival of Words would like to extend an apology to those who were adversely affected by last night’s late event at Café Deux Soleils. While we are in full support of people feeling empowered enough to display their bodies in whatever way they feel comfortable, and in no way … Continued

Come one, come all to Vancouver Poetry House’s general meeting. We will review 2014, providing information about all four VPH programs as well as our recently completed financial statements.

Hello festival goers, Our next festival is right around the corner and we are incredibly excited to let you in on all of the wonderful things to come in Verses 2015. One area which has remained a main focus for us, as well as a great learning experience from year … Continued

This may be the best news we’ve heard all year! Congratulations and thanks go to Ikenna “OpenSecret” Onyegbula, who finished first at the Coupe de Monde de Poésie in Paris, France. Onyegbula became the Canadian representative by winning the 2013 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam at the Verses Festival of Words … Continued

The 2014 Verses Festival of Words wrapped just two months ago and the festival team is already hard at work planning for 2015. Last year’s festival was the most successful yet with over 80 artists performing at over 30 events. The last three days were fully sold out, including over … Continued

By Maegan Thomas Verses Festival of Words is on now celebrating the transformative power of words: poetic, musical, comedic and all the genres in between and a few not yet invented. “I love that Verses…brings together so many different styles of poetry and such an array of voices and talents.” … Continued

The preliminary bouts are over and from the original field of 40 slam poets, 12 have advanced to the Finals, tonight at The Rio Theatre. The finalists competing to be the 2014 Canadian Individual Slam Champion will be: Andre Prefontaine Dia Davina Dana ID Matthews IF Sir Realist Liam Coady … Continued

It’s time to review all that VPH has done in 2013 and look forward to some of our plans for the future. This meeting is an ideal opportunity for members of the community to meet the VPH board, program directors, and find out more about how VPH operates. We’ll discuss … Continued

Dear Verses Festival Goers (And Vancouver community members)   If you have not yet seen the event posted, we would like to invite you to come out to Havana Theatre today at 3:00 pm to participate in a community conversation happening around the topic of physical and social accessibility within arts communities. … Continued

By: Maegan Thomas Verses Festival of Words is on April 5-12 on Commercial Drive, the heart – and funny bone – of Vancouver’s spoken word community. They ask the question for the ages What Rhymes with LOL? at at Havana Theatre April 8. Contributors to the recently launched Poetry Is … Continued

What a week this has been for the Verses Festival – and the party doesn’t officially start until Saturday! Everyone is talking about the festival and tickets are selling like crazy. In case you’ve missed any of the media articles, alerts, and pre-festival attention the events and the artists have … Continued

This article has only been up for 1 day, but we’ve already seen tickets sales take off – Thanks Georgia Straight!! The staff at the Georgia Straight have decided – and we definitely agree – that the Verses Festival of Words is their Arts Choice this week! So if you … Continued

Word is getting out about the Verses Festival!   Vancouverscape has done an AMAZING writeup about the Verses, including show information and videos of some of the festivals brightest stars. (Although, really, everyone involved or attending the Verses Festival is a star – obviously). Click here to get your daily … Continued

Get ready to share this will everyone you know! In this latest interview, the incomparable d’bi young talks about art, activism and love. Click here to watch it! Want more d’bi? Better come to the Verses Festival and get your tickets to Sounds Like Fire and the Spoken Word Masterclass … Continued

Vancouver poet Al Mader is no stranger to Verses or the Van Slam family, in fact he is appearing in the “Shut the Front Door” show with a number of other awesome spoken word artists. We know how hard it is to wait until April, so you can get your … Continued

The good news keeps on coming! We are super excited to share another interview with Ivan Coyote who is part of the duo (with Rae Spoon) that makes up Gender Failure. You can read about it here! If you haven’t bought your tickets for Gender Failure, you can get them … Continued