Start the new year off with a poetry workshop and youth poetry slam featuring the wonderful Johnny MacRae.

This is a FREE event at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library. We have a 1 hour writing workshop from 5:30-6:30 where poets create new work to be followed by an open mic/poetry slam. It’s open to poets 13-20 years of age. It’s a lot of fun and FREE.

There will also be a 3 poem mini feature by our workshop leader.

Johnny MacRae is a mouthy poet. The 2013 Poet of Honour for the Victoria Spoken Word Festival, he has been a regional and a national poetry slam champion. Since 2010, MacRae has regularly toured across Canada and the United States, both solo and as a member of psychedelic spoken word duo, 2 Dope Boys in a Cadillac.

Workshop Description: “Lying to Tell the Truth”

Starting from the premise that creative expression can never be “the honest truth,” this workshop examines the creative possibilities of using fictional frameworks as a way to express personal truths. In particular, this workshop focuses on channeling the personal urgency of speaking from the heart into extended metaphor, as a means of making your poems for effective vehicles for what you want to say, while expanding opportunities for random members of your audience to engage with your work.