Ivan Coyote leads a workshop designed to help you transform your nervous energy into a memorable reading. Learn how to select material, prepare your work for performance, memorize it (or not), and make your body language work for you.
The land of poetry spreads out far and vast. There’s a lot of territory to cover. You could spend a whole day just traveling from metaphor to extended metaphor. Then there’s rhyme and alliteration. Poets have spent years investigating the nooks and crannies of those areas. What about the presentation … Continued
Ivan Coyote's Masterclass is a live performance workshop for writers, poets and storytellers. Ivan Coyote is the author of 9 collections of short stories, one novel, the editor of an anthology, and the producer of four short films and three audio CDs. Still, Ivan makes most of their living as a … Continued
Richard Wagamese's Masterclass: A Workshop on the Power of Storytelling Using theatrical form Richard presents the necessity of returning to telling stories to each other to build community, foster understanding and build a better country. Dramatic, hilarious and touching, with a resonant message he will include a focus on the … Continued
Free Silly: Practicing Presence and Play in Spoken Word In this workshop we will play with clown theory and clown games in an attempt to help us peel away the “performer’s mask” we often present to audiences when performing spoken word and we will practice and play being more present … Continued
![[ID: A graphic with the word Talk repeated in different sizes and colours filling the space of the image. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/TalktheTalk1.jpg "TalktheTalk")
Talk the Talk: Mental Health Within Spoken Word Guided by two qualified facilitators, this talk is likely to touch on a variety of challenging issues. Active listeners will be present for community care. Come prepared with questions, suggestions and a respectful voice. This discussion is a free event. Seating … Continued
Your Poem is Lasagna, Layered. Join 2010 World Poetry Slam champion Ian Keteku as he explores the layers beneath a poem and performance. Many times performance poets unintentionally come across as preachy, ranting, angry. How do we get our "message" to be effectively communicated? How do we intentionally dig beneath the … Continued
Improvisers have a lot to learn from poets, and poets have a lot to learn from improvisers. Former Victoria Slam Champion and world renowned improviser Dave Morris will show you how to infuse your poetry with some spontaneity! Let the audiences reaction influence your performance, be present in the moment, … Continued
Talk the Talk: Allyship & Community Building Guided by two qualified facilitators, this talk is likely to touch on a variety of challenging issues. Active listeners will be present for community care. Come prepared with questions, suggestions and a respectful voice. This discussion is a free event. Seating cannot … Continued
Your 2017 Verses Festival of Words Pass gives you full access to all #VS17 events: Hullabaloo Youth Poetry Slam Competition – free at VPL Central Three Showcases: "Oceans to Sail" Showcase with Saul Williams and Guests Sounds Like Fire: Femme4Femme The Body Is Not An Apology Five Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championships … Continued
The land of poetry spreads out far and vast. There’s a lot of territory to cover. You could spend a whole day just traveling from metaphor to extended metaphor. Then there’s rhyme and alliteration. Poets have spent years investigating the nooks and crannies of those areas. What about the magical … Continued
“Williams has been breaking ground since his debut album, Amethyst Rock Star, was released in 2001. After gaining global fame for his poetry and writings at the turn of the century, Williams has performed in over 30 countries and read in over 300 universities, with invitations that have spanned from … Continued
Shhh… Before you speak a single word in the festival, trained stage actor and performance poet, Johnny Trinh, nourishes our understanding of breath and body, expanding our skills of projection and protecting what is for vocal performers, our most valuable instrument. Lengthen the lifespan and strengthen the health of your … Continued
Guided by two qualified facilitators, Deirdre Lee and Melanie Matining, this talk is likely to engage with a number of topics that challenge and re-form our collective ideas of activism in the arts. "Deirdre Lee is a poet & performer, a writer & a survivor. An artist who works in … Continued
On the heels of their groundbreaking, tender, illuminating show Mel Malarkey Gets The Bum Rush, Charlie Petch breathes new life into old vaudevillian form. Learn the versatility and depth of long form cabaret-style storytelling, as Petch teaches us how to transform performance poetry into mesmerizing theatre that gives both audience … Continued
Moving beyond reacting to the systems that oppress us, and into future-building for the world/s we want to manifest, we will create work in our voices and perspectives that the universe urgently needs to hear. Youth can sign up to work with two deeply thoughtful and experienced mentors/community activists and … Continued
Guided by two qualified facilitators, Sonmin Bong and Jen Sung, this talk asks participants to explore Kiberlé Crenshaw’s model of intersectionality in relation to artistic communities. "Sonmin Bong is a first-generation Korean immigrant feminist who works, plays and, most importantly, loves on unceded Coast Salish territories.She is a host and … Continued
“Do you want to hear the best story you’ve ever heard in your life?” Andrea Gibson asks into the microphone. The audience leans forward in silent anticipation. “So I met this woman and I went home to her house with her.” They pause, “already a great story.” The audience erupts … Continued
![[ID: Poets sit in a circle around Dana ID Mathews in the middle sitting with his legs stretched out. Some are on chairs, most are on the floor. They are either writing, reading, or listening. There are piles of coats on the floor and on the stacked chairs in the background/end ID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/Adventures-360x360-1.jpg "Adventures-360×360")
The land of poetry spreads far and wide: you could spend days traveling from Metaphor to Extended Metaphor. And that’s before you even reach Rhyme and Alliteration! Poets have spent years investigating the nooks and crannies of these regions and beyond. Have you been to the magical land of improvisation? Or explored … Continued
![[ID: Moe Clark is crouched in front of a stone wall painted turquoise. Her right hand is on a large hand drum. She is smiling, her face turned to the right. She is wearing a dark grey cardigan and red pants. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/Moe-Clark-reduced-360x360-1.jpg)
"Spoken word performance and looping pedal workshop exploring body and voice as landscape. Add new dimension to your spoken word poetry and written works. Combine your poetry with sounds, songs, and performance tools to create works that are stage-worthy and audience approved. Moe Clark will take you on a journey … Continued
![[ID: Group photo of 11 members of Thursdays Writing Collective on stage together. They are all smiling. Two members are crouched at the front of the group for the photo. A red Verses banner is in the background. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/Thursdays-Writing-Collective.jpg "Thursdays Writing Collective")
Thursdays Writing Collective has been writing together at the Carnegie Centre at Main and Hastings for 10 years. Over that last decade, TWC members have met to share the acts and products of writing, improve their writing skills and make connections within Vancouver’s literary community. "TWC includes writers identifying as Indigenous, … Continued
![[ID: JB the First Lady stands with the seashore, water, a bridge, and Vancouver skyline behind her. She wears a light pink shirt. Her right hand is touching the back of her head behind her right ear. Her hair is braided. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/received_10155987269191368-e1522111500408.jpg "received_10155987269191368")
Utilizing a unique creative writing process developed by the writer, hip hop artist, activist, and performer, JB leads workshop participants through activity and writing, exploring themes of remembering and belonging. Working together over an hour and a half long session, participants will create a community poem and in creating a … Continued
![[ID: Q in black lipstick, a grey crop top, and underwear seated in their manual wheelchair, holding their knees to their chest as they look out a window; a bicycle wheel tattoo is partially visible on their shoulder blade, and a hand of fate holding a dandelion puff as the seeds disperse tattoo is on their thigh /end ID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/29425970_2040557059499602_2120453163948441600_o-e1522114254147-scaled.jpg "29425970_2040557059499602_2120453163948441600_o")
"Lame, crippling, retard/ed, gimp, moron, spaz, handicap/ped, handicapable, differently abled, diffability, special needs, deaf/blind to, hearing impaired, invalid, wheelchair bound - From slurs to euphemisms to the way we describe our experiences, ableist language is in the very roots of our speech. Language translates to beliefs, beliefs translate to actions, … Continued
Guided by two qualified facilitators, Kitty Stryker and Rabbit Richards, this talk is likely to engage with a number of topics that challenge, advance and re-form our collective ideas of consent culture within the arts. Come prepared with questions, thoughts and a respectful voice. Active listeners will be present for … Continued
![[ID: Cedar strips woven to create a square in the middle framing the Reframing Relations logo. The logo is a purple and turquoise design. The words Reframing Relations are below the image. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/Reframing-Relations-Images_Page_1-scaled.jpg "Reframing Relations Images_Page_1")
Reframing Relations brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists together ... to facilitate dialogue about reconciliation in Canada. Participants work together on collaborative, arts-based ‘Statements of Understanding’ to discover where their awareness of Indigenous issues is located today, where they have gaps in their knowledge, and what concrete actions can be taken … Continued
![[ID: There is the back of a person with red hair standing in a circle with other people. The person wears a grey hoodie with a jean jacket over it. The jean jacket has a large black rectangular patch that says "Don't Touch Me." A person wearing an orange hoodie and brown pants stands to their left. Another person wearing a yellow shirt is to their right. A person with a pink shirt and jeans is across the circle of people. /endID]](https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/media/18209346_1323109567743026_6284841095387137108_o.jpg "18209346_1323109567743026_6284841095387137108_o")
Please note the update to this event that it is now by donation or pay what you can. Kitty Stryker, consultant to Juggalos and Sex Educators alike, presents a talk on how to have thoughtful conversations about sexual assault when it impacts someone you love, mixed with Q&A for attendees … Continued
This community-driven, facilitator-mediated conversation asks artists to participate in anti-oppression dialogue around the topic of “Harm Reduction” within the Spoken Word Community and the many intersecting communities in which we engage. Active listeners will be present for community care. Come prepared with questions, suggestions and a respectful voice. This discussion … Continued
On Sunday, April 7 2019 VPH is holding an Extraordinary General Meeting of the membership (EGM) to discuss changes to the by-laws made, and passed by, the board of directors. The reasons we have re-written the by-laws are: To make it possible for people who earn money on VPH stages … Continued
This event will be taking place on the unceded, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Wautuh peoples. 4 different workshops presented by World Class poets, Janice Joe Lee, Chris Tse, Patrick de belen and Johnny Trinh lead students through Adventures in Poetryland. Each workshop offers a unique perspective … Continued
Un-Closing Captions: possibilities for descriptive text April 29 | Chill-X Studio 3 pm to 5pm Adv. $10 or by donation | $10 at the door (no one turned away for lack of funds) Advance tickets for this event here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/captioning-and-scoring-poems-workshop Buy a Verses Festival pass HERE Led by Vancouver Poet … Continued