Spoken Word Jamboree kicks off not only Hullabaloo, but also Verses Festival of Words! All participating teams will be invited to perform a one-minute intro poem to tell us more about themselves and their school, and Halifax’s El Jones will rock the house as the night’s feature.
The Jamboree provides all participating poets a chance to meet each other outside of a competition setting – and you a chance to glimpse the spirit of loving camaraderie that makes Hullabaloo one of the year’s best events! The event doubles as orientation for the teams, so there will be some information presented specific to them. However, this is a public event: you don’t need to be on a participating team to attend! So don’t be shy – come on down and help us start this festival right!
6PM-8PM / VPL Central Branch / Alice MacKay Room / Free
The Vancouver Poetry House respectfully recognizes that our series events take place on the traditional and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) nations. We recognize that colonial violence led to the creation of Vancouver, and how that allows our organization to exist. We aim to always be cognizant of who is represented on our stages, and to do what we can to reach out to communities who are underrepresented thereupon.
ARTIST BIO: EL JONES
El Jones is a poet, educator, journalist and advocate. She was the fifth Poet Laureate of Halifax, and currently holds the 15th Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University. El is a co-founder of the Black Power Hour, a radio show developed collectively with prisoners. Her advocacy and work fights anti-Black racism in Canada, walking in the path of our great-grandmothers who resisted relentlessly.
ACCESSIBILITY:
The VPL Central Branch has elevators to reach the downstairs rooms where the Hullabaloo events are being held. There are wheelchair accessible bathrooms. For more details, refer to their list of facilities (http://www.vpl.ca/location/central-library).
This event is a scent-reduced space. To assist us in our goal of increased access, please be aware of our attempt to reduce the impact of personal scented products (perfumes, scented oils, etc) in our festival spaces.
HULLABALOO
A one of a kind youth poetry event that kicks off Verses Festival of Words!
Hullabaloo is BC’s Youth Spoken Word Festival. Teams of youth poets aged 13 to 18 from across British Columbia come together to compete in slams, participate in workshops, witness world-class feature artists, and connect with peers!