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Wordstock on now: Sudbury’s second annual Poetry Slam is happening Friday night

Poet Tanya Neumeyer is hosting once again, with special guest performance Mahlikah Awe:ri
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Mahlikah Awe:ri (left) is a Toronto-based drum talk poet rapologist of African-Canadian/Mohawk (Kahnawá:ke) & Mi’kmaw (Bear River) heritage. She’s a special guest at the Nov. 2 Wordstock Poetry Slam being hosted again by Tanya Neumeyer (right). (Supplied)

If you’ve always wanted to perform your poetry in front of a captive audience, then Friday’s your chance.

Wordstock Sudbury is hosting its second annual Poetry Slam, and it just happens to be free.

The literary festival — which kicked off today, Nov. 1 — is bringing almost 30 writers to town for the weekend, including Toronto-based spoken-word poet Tanya Neumeyer, who will host the slam for the second year running.

For those who don’t know, spoken word is type of word-based performance that relies heavily on how a poem sounds read aloud, rather than how it looks on a page. Spoken word also tends to combine the personal and political, and contribute to community building and social change.

“It’s not like a poetry reading … It’s about making poetry not just on the page but on the stage,” explained Neumeyer. “It’s really a person telling a story and using the most efficient language they can to get to the heart of it.”

Neumeyer’s journey started in 2006, when they (Neumyer chooses to use 'they' as a personal pronoun rather than 'she', and we'll respect that in this article) attended the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Toronto.

At the time, they were a Queen’s University graduate with a degree in engineering and international development studies (something they said makes their uniquely primed to appreciate Sudbury’s landscape, as well as its mining culture).

Neumeyer said they always knew they had the heart of a poet though, and attending the festival changed their path in life.

While cities like Toronto, Ottawa, or Edmonton have active slam teams that take part in national and international festivals, there’s no team in Northern Ontario yet.

“It’s a great cultural loss that we don’t have more stories in this art form from Northern Ontario,” said Neumeyer. “I’m really glad [the slam] is happening.”

If you don’t think you’re ready to perform yet, think again. Even Neumeyer still gets nervous before she goes on stage.

“It’s still terrifying sometimes,” they said. “Because there’s usually a personal element to what’s being shared, I sometimes get the shakes in my legs or tenderness in my heart.”

But that doesn’t stop Neumeyer, and they don't want it to stop you either.

“If you’re nervous it’s a good thing because it means you care about what you wrote,” said Neumeyer.

Anyone can perform, all they’re asked to do is bring two poems under three minutes to read aloud. You can memorize them or not, but make sure you stick to the time limit to avoid penalties.

The event will be a good time even for non-competitors: last year’s was packed, and this year they’re bringing in a special guest.

Mahlikah Awe:ri is a Toronto-based drum talk poet rapologist of African-Canadian/Mohawk (Kahnawá:ke) & Mi’kmaw (Bear River) heritage, who has Nova Scotian roots.

Awe:ri’s set midway through the competition is guaranteed to make an impact: she’s performed across Canada and internationally, is published in several anthologies, and has coached numerous other spoken word artists. Her combination of spoken word with hip hop elements is especially striking.

If you’re still wondering whether you want to go, Neumeyer couldn’t emphasize enough that “anyone is welcome!”

The slam runs from 9:30 to 11:30 at the Clarion Hotel, and it’s absolutely free to perform or attend.

For more information see their Facebook event page.

For a full list of Wordstock events, visit the festival website.


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