Come join us for another night of poetry! This will be a live only event. Bring yourselves and your words to Community Pizza, 1191 Commercial Dr.
Devon Goodman was a lifelong poet, who found his truest inspiration in the Vancouver Slam Poetry community in 2007. Devon started the Maple Ridge Poetry Slam while still in high school, inspired by poets he saw gracing the Vancouver stage at the time. He was a gregarious member of the local recovery community, and in his memory, his family would like to offer support to gay youth struggling with addiction. He passed in November of 2021, and we honour his memory and his works in this event.
Originally from Singapore, Kagan Goh is a Vancouver-based Chinese Canadian multidisciplinary Mad Artist: award-winning filmmaker, published author, spoken word poet, playwright, actor, mental health advocate and activist. He was diagnosed with manic depression at the age of twenty-three, in 1993. Kagan is a well-known spoken word artist, essayist and poet, a respected and established voice in Vancouver’s literary community for over two decades. He has been invited to perform at readings, festivals and on radio. He is a graduate of the prestigious Humber School for Writing program, and holds a certificate in creative writing from Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio. He has been published in numerous anthologies, periodicals, and magazines. Goh was writer-in-residence at the Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver, B.C., from November 2014 to February 2015. In 2012, Select Books in Singapore published his poetic memoir, focused upon his relationship with his esteemed father, Who Let in the Sky? Kagan is also an award-winning filmmaker with a number of releases including the award-winning films: Mind Fuck (1996); Stolen Memories (2012); Breaking the Silence (2015); The Day My Cat Saved My Life (2021); and Common Law (2023). His films have been broadcast on national television and gained entry into respected film festivals around the world. Goh’s follow-up memoir, Surviving Samsara, which recounts his struggles with manic depression, breaking the silence around mental illness, was published by Caitlin Press in 2021. Surviving Samsara was also shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2022 in the creative nonfiction in English category.
Masking Policy: Masks are encouraged, but the venue is a restaurant and members of the audience will be maskless.
VanSlam takes place on the Unceded, stolen Lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and we wish to acknowledge & thank those people who have been stewards of this land since time immemorial. Van Slam is committed to engaging in the internal and external work of reconciliation.