2024 Festival:
October 21–27

30: Word! (2) (Grades 8–12 and adults)

30: Word! (2) (Grades 8–12 and adults)

This event is SOLD OUT in person. Tickets can still be purchased to view the livestream!

All 2022 Festival Youth events can be attended in-person or viewed online. Please ensure that you select the correct ticket option during checkout.

The second helping of our Spoken Word event series, curated and hosted by award-winning poet and spoken word artist Jillian Christmas, promises to be just as captivating and affirming as the first. Brendan McLeod is an award-winning spoken word artist and Juno-nominated musician whose first printed collection, Friends Without Bodies, explores our mental health experiences during the pandemic. Lucia Misch has been captivating audiences for more than a decade. The Problem with Solitaire asks: when we play against ourselves, who wins? Tawahum Bige’s anticipated debut, Cut to Fortress, is a powerful exploration of Indigenous id entity, relationships, and confronting colonialism. Grades 8–12.

Presented in partnership with KPU Creative Writing.

Event Participants:

Tawahum Bige

TAWAHUM BIGE is a Łutselk’e Dene, Plains Cree poet living on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territory. He’s presented his mixture of poetry & hip-hop across Canada. Beyond the page, Tawahum has focused on land protection. Cut to Fortress is their debut poetry collection. (BRITISH COLUMBIA)

Jillian Christmas

JILLIAN CHRISTMAS is an artist, creative facilitator, curator, consultant, and advocate in the arts community. She is the long-time spoken word curator of the Vancouver Writers Fest, and former artistic director of Verses Festival of Words. She is the author of The Gospel of Breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press 2020) and the children’s book, The Magic Shell (Flamingo Rampant Press 2021).

Brendan McLeod

BRANDON MCLEOD is the author of Friends Without Bodies and The Convictions of Leonard McKinley. His music group The Fugitives have been nominated for the Canadian Folk Music Awards, as well as a Juno. He was the Poet of Honour at the 2012 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. (ONTARIO)

Lucia Misch

LUCIA MISCH has brought her writing to events ranging from literary festivals to labour union conventions. The Problem with Solitaire is her debut collection. She facilitates spoken word workshops with WordPlay: Poetry In Schools, and as an ArtStarts Poet in Residence. (BRITISH COLUMBIA)