Come join us for another night of slam poetry! As always, our event is in our hybrid live & online format. Bring yourselves and your words to Community Pizza, 1191 Commercial Dr, or to the Van Slam zoom space.
A bit about our feature artists:
At the age of 32 Andre Prefontaine has never contributed to an RRSP, maintains ten-years of sobriety, studies astrology, is becoming misanthropic, and believes in ghosts because all the pieces of him that have died have got to go somewhere. Obtaining external forms of validation to remedy internal strife, Andre Prefontaine succeeded in winning a total of seven Slam Poetry championship titles. Two-time C.F.S.W winner (once as team captain and once as a coach), two consecutive Underground championships win, two Haiku Deathmatch titles, and one C.I.P.S championship which allowed him the chance to represent Canada at the “Coupe Du Monde” world cup of Slam in Paris, France where, midway through the competition, he realized he was a vampant, empty shell seeking other people’s approval and thus losing the self-important drive which had seen him to that point. He did place fourth, though.
Matthew Kee is a Toronto-born writer and poet who found his heart in Montreal and his voice in Vancouver. He moves cities every 4 months and this is confusing for everyone, especially people who send him mail. He has competed at the Vancouver, Calgary, and Guelph poetry slams and won 3rd place at the 2023 Van Slam Finals. He also competed at the 2023 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam where he realized he needed a cool stage name, at which point it was too late. Matthew writes about queerness, family, and growing up Chinese-Canadian. He is in his final year of studying engineering at the University of Waterloo and comes to poetry slams to escape the other engineers.
This is a hybrid event! Join us in person at Community Taps + Pizza (1191 Commercial Dr.) or online via zoom.
Sign up to read starts at 7:30 both in person and online. See you there!
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.