Headlining the festival this year are some of Montreal's phenomenal local poets and performers,

including Kaie Kellough, Catherine Kidd, Geneviève Letarte, Alexis O'Hara and

the words+music+dance company For Body and Light

Our special guest, hailing from the Bronx in New York City is Caridad de la Luz (La Bruja)

The festival takes place at two venues on boulevard St-Laurent as well as at Café Resonance,

the new home of jazz music and poetry on Ave. du Parc in Montreal.

It begins on Thursday March 26th and runs through till Wednesday April 1st.

A big thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts and our other sponsors for making it all possible.

Events

Our first show is Thursday March 26th. Entitled MTL Spoken Here it's a look at performers who

created historic spoken word in Montreal, where their practice has taken them,

and who's new in the Montreal poetry and poetry slam scene.

The show is hosted by Chris Masson and includes performances by Alexis O'Hara,

Genevieve Letarte, Deanna Smith and members of Montreal's Throw Poetry Collective.

To set the tone, catch an intriguing lead-off music set by Will Eizlini.

At Casa del Popolo (their performance space, enter at 4873 St.Laurent; doors 8; show 9PM $7)

On Friday March 27th catch Éclectique - a poetic and musical intro to the MIle End scene with

current slam favorite Herie Sun, original vocalist performer Ricky Leach and two of the scene's top

musicians, Sam Shalabi and Paul Serralheiro. Paul will be joined by André Asselin and

Lawrence Joseph as well as the members of Nouveau Jazz Libre du Québec:

Bryan Highbloom and Guy Thouin. Special guest Klara Du Plessis will perform poetry in Africaans.

Our lead-off act is Will Eizlini.

At Casa del Popolo (their performance space, enter at 4873 St.Laurent). Doors 8PM; show 9PM $7.

 

On Saturday March 28th we move over to Café Resonance--5175a ave. du Parc--to catch

master syllabic systematizer Kaie Kellough and NYC's Caridad de la Luz (AKA La Bruja).

The show also features musicians Isis Giraldo, Martin Heslop, Eric Hove and Liam O'Neill

as well as curator and vocalist Jane Gabriels. Setting the tone for the evening is Will Eizlini.

On the evening of Sunday March 29th our Voice/Dance/Trance show takes place at La Sala Rossa,

4848 boul. St-Laurent, doors 8PM; show 9PM. This show features star spoken word artist

Catherine Kidd and an inside look at a new show by Montreal spoken word & dance company

For Body and Light. The same evening you can catch work by dance master Lin Snelling

and friends, as well as a solo performance by Body Slam's Greg Selinger.

This is the final festival evening to be led off by master musician Will Eizlini

 

On Wednesday April 1st at Café Resonance (5175a ave du Parc) the Mile End Poets co-sponsor

a poetry workshop with tips and talk from Kaie Kellough, Fabrice Koffy and Gillian Sze.

Host is poet and Resonance Reading Series curator Klara Du Plessis

This starts early at 7:30PM, and--thanks in part to the Quebec Writers' Federation--admission is free.

The workshop is followed directly by the free monthly Resonance Reading Series in the same space.

. There you can catch performances by Kaie, Fabrice and Gillian--the poets who led the workshop--

as well as Marie Darsigny and David Walker.

 

The Mile End Poets' Festival is sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts,

the Quebec Writers' Federation and CKUT 90.3FM. It is produced by

Wired on Words Productions and the poets of Montreal's Mile End district.

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