We have a great list of performers this year! Check the line-up for an overview of the day's events, and read about our various workshops and the Dragonfly Kidz Fest too!
View performers by stage:
> Main stage
> Waterfront stage
> Malcolm Lowry stage
Our Finest Hosts
Nadia Chaney & Rupinder Sidhu
Nadia Chaney believes the sublime centre of the universe can be found at the heart of every moment. She works as a social artist; poet, emcee, musician, arts-empowerment facilitator, animator and writer. Through her work in radical arts-based dialogue she creates opportunities to develop flexible, tenable, fields of group awareness. She currently plays with Vancouver bands yourself and BPM (Bass Poetry Music). More professional details at http://byanydreamsnecessary.com and http://pyeglobal.org.
Rupinder Sidhu is a Vancouver-based performance artist and facilitator. Rup leads programs with a variety of organizations including Power of Hope; Safe Teen, a violence prevention and gender awareness program; Access to Media Education Society, an organization dedicated to putting media tools in the hands of marginalized people: The Sarah MacLaughlin Music Outreach, a free inner-city music school; and his own initiative Metaphor, a program dedicated to bringing hip hop performances and workshops into schools, detention centers and rural communities. Rup is also known as a talented performer, having engaged with a myriad of projects including BPM and Nucleus.
Lady Ra
12:00
Lady Ra emerged in 1996 via CFRU 93.3 fm in Guelph, Ontario. Freshly trained on antiquated community radio equipment and given free reign of the extensive music library, each show she programmed was a revelation. Upon relocating to Vancouver, she co-founded the Beats Without Borders Collective. She has both hosted and shared the stage with musical wizards such as Gaudi, Makyo, SubSwara, and many others. She travels both overland and underground, to places like Yemen, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Spain, Cuba, India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. She does so with her ear to the ground, seeking out and weaving old and new world sounds into rich musical tapestries hailing from the Four Corners of Earth.
http://ladyra.com
Sad, Sad City
12:45
UTV and youth workers at Capilano Community Services Society co-sponsored a Battle of the Bands at William Griffin Rec Centre on July 9th, with the winner earning a spot on our Mainstage. Sad, Sad City is that band. Graham Matheson and Aidan Hanlon were brought together by the powers of our galaxy, quickly becoming friends. Inspired by folk to grindcore, the two have been playing together since 2007. In late 2008, after searching a year for musicians the two called on the collaboration of Travis Lawrenuk and Jonn Tanner. This was the beginning of Sad, Sad City. With newly recruited bass player Stephen Mill, their sound is sure to make you stop in your tracks.
http://myspace.com/sadsadcitymusic
Children Of Takaya
1:30
For the past 20 years, Under The Volcano has been honoured to have members of the George family participate in our event, which takes place on the traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Our relationship began in 1990, when Chief Dan George’s son, Bobby George, was invited to be a speaker by the Festival’s founder Irwin Oostindie. In 1993, then Chief Leonard George & Children Of Takaya presented us with a welcoming address and have since become an important annual presence at our event.
Joey Only Outlaw Band
2:00
The Outlaws are a relentless live band of all-stars fronted
by Dr. Joey Only. With dozens of original songs, they rarely stop on stage, merging songs into psychedelic medlies. In support of their new album Transgression Trail, the band will once again be guerrilla troubadours, playing every town and festival in Canada they can. Last time Joey played UTV he lost his voice and had to have guests sing his lyrics, so we’re thrilled he gets to come back for a second round.
“An anarchist sort of Stomping Tom Connors,”
– Bob Nixon, Canada Now, CBC News
“…sounds a bit like a defiantly DIY version of a young Bob Dylan, this being partly because of Only’s world-weary voice and partly because of his phrasing,” – Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight, August 2005.
http://www.joeyonly.com
Sista Hailstorm (Seattle)
2:45
Sistahailstorm is a graffitti artist and emcee straight
out of the concrete jungles that rumble in Los Angeles. She started out as an underground freestyler in the inner city streets
of northeast L.A. – Lincoln Heights, East L.A.
and Highland Park – and has since travelled to
Europe, Africa and across the U.S., performing
and representing the underground world of hiphop.
Sistahailstorm has touched many with her strong political lyrical content as well her indepth perspective
on the worldwide genocidal history of indigenous people & tribes. Her own blood lineage is Apache, Yuma, Pascua Yaqui and Mexica Mitkiyaosi and she is a member of the almighty Zulu Nation 206 and L.A. Women Warriors of NYM Southwest Rebel Alliance. UTV has collaborated with Hailstorm many times before and if any MC knows how to
rhyme & resist, it’s her!
http://www.myspace.com/sistahailstorm
Tambura Rasa
3:30
Tambura Rasa is a buoyant cultural cross-pollination that fuses contemporary grooves and traditional rhythms into one energetic musical brand all their own! Packed with fiery Spanish guitar, fully orchestrated Baladi Gypsy string section, and burning Afro-Latin percussion, this act raises the roof and lights-up skies of any concert grounds they land on. The lyrics are sung in a variety of languages (Spanish, Turkish, Serbian, Sousou, French, Hawaiian
and Portuguese) and thus they further enhance Tambura Rasa’s cultural diversity.
Ivan Tucakov grew up in Turkey and Serbia, the crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures and over the years he has also traveled to Spain, Portugal, France, Mexico, Peru and throughout Canada and United States in search of new inspirations.
“In the midst of a lot of gimmicky fusion, Tambura Rasa stands out as a group that has formed a worthwhile synthesis of music from many cultures.” - Rambles Magazine
http://www.tamburarasa.com
Declan de Barra
4:15
In UTV's 20 year history there have only been a handful of artists who have been received with such passion and awe. After Declans's 2008 performance, I received more than enough feedback to fill an entire page. "A beautiful and haunting singer with a sharp political analysis." "I had goosebumps on a sunny day." "Is that man single?" were just a few of the highlights.
Many artistic directors of festicals (and I know some so I'm not making this up) are less concerned about an artists' actual personality and more concerned about the musicianship or ability to draw. It's not a judgement. It's just the nature of festivals. Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Declan's music and I think his lyrics are some of the best of any songwriter EVER. (Forget that other dude from Dublin, this is the real portrayal of Ireland past and present.) But it's Declan's human qualities that make this the complete package. There's not a lot of ego here. No self-referential bios about being the next "big thing". There's just a man with a depth of political analysis (his recent travels to Palestine certainly influence his songwriting), compassion, a huge heart and a firm belief in human rights. I normally wouldn't write a personal bio for an artist, but I have been so moved by my friendship and connection with Delcan de Barra, that a standard bio doesn't suffice here. I feel blessed to call him my comerade and am elated that we will once again be graced by his presence on our Mainstage. - Artisic Director, Meegan Maultsaid
http://www.declandebarra.com
Olmeca
5:00
Olmeca is a revolutionary hip hop MC and activist who graced our Mainstage in 2007 and who's returning in support of his latest album, La Contra Cultura/Counter Culture (IXIM records). Olmeca's music is greatly influenced by his family's struggles in marginalized communities as cheap urban labour, and he deftly depicts his upbringing with energy and intelligence. In the vein of punk rock, son jarocho and classic hip hip, La Contra Cultura takes its place amongst thought-proviking art that denounces the perceived mainstream culture. The result is a trademark sound with an unapologetic message that gives voice to the poor and disenfranchised.
Compared to Zack de la Rocha, Talib Kweli and other prolific rappers, Olmeca's music contains a focused and undaunted political and cultural message. There can't be a discussion about politically-conscious underground MC's without including him. He's toured and performed with iconic artists such as Ozomatli, KRS One, Dilated Peoples, the late Joe Strummer, Saul Williams and others.
Olmeca doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk and has spoken across the country at universities, rallies and marches, discussing everything from art in rebellion to the Zapatista movement to the importance of cultural identity. He recently spoke alongside Zack de la Rocha and Dolores Huerta in Phoenix, AZ, where 20,000 people attended a rally against SB1070, Arizona's new immigration law, which allows police to demand identification documents from anyone they suspect might be an illegal immigrant.
"Loaded with lyrics that teach our children and community about 'who we are', Olmeca is using his innate MC skills to teach and uplift humanity just as the ancient poets and shamans did in the past. Bred with the dignity of the Zapatistas, the political understanding of Malcolm X, and the social activism of Dolores Huerta, we are grateful to the ancestors to have guided this young man into our presence. In our analysis, Olmeca contributes to Hip Hop being very much alive, not dead!" - Hip Hop radio icon, Fidel Rodriguez
"We are honoured to present the return of Olmeca. A real MC for real times."
http://www.myspace.com/olmeca
Naomi Klein & Arthur Manuel (a discussion moderated by Avi Lewis)
5:45
Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times and #1 international bestseller, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Published worldwide in September 2007, The Shock Doctrine is being translated into over 25 languages. In 2009 it won the inaugural Warwick Prize for Literature. The six minute companion film, created by Alfonso Cuaron, director of Children of Men, was an Official Selection of the 2007 Venice Biennale and Toronto International Film Festivals.
Her first book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was also an international bestseller, translated into over 28 languages with more than a million copies in print. The New York Times called it “a movement bible.” The tenth anniversary edition of No Logo was published in November 2009 updated with a new introduction. A collection of her work, Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate was published in 2002. Klein is also a contributing editor for Harper’s and a reporter for Rolling Stone, and writes a regular column for The Nation and The Guardian that is syndicated internationally by The New York Times Syndicate. In 2004, her reporting from Iraq for Harper’s Magazine won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. Also in 2004, she co-produced The Take with director Avi Lewis, a feature documentary about Argentina’s occupied factories. The film was an Official Selection of the Venice Biennale and won the Best Documentary Jury Prize at the American Film Institute’s Film Festival in Los Angeles.
She is a former Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics and holds an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws from the University of King's College, Nova Scotia.
http://www.naomiklein.org
Arthur Manuel
Arthur Manuel, of the Secwepemc Nation, was elected Chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band from 1995-2003 and also served as chairperson for the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council (SNTC) for six years during that same time period. Manuel is the spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade (INET), a network of Indigenous organizations who are achieving recognition for Aboriginal Title and Treaty Rights at the international level. He has contributed to international conferences such as United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues in New York city and the world social forum. He has presented arguments and submissions in favour of Aboriginal and Treaty rights to the World Trade Organizations, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the International Olympic Committee.
Manuel has been a leading voice of opposition to the Canadian government's agenda to "extinguish" Aboriginal and Treaty rights and assimilate Indigenous peoples into the Canadian body politic. Active locally in defense of Shuswap land (during the expansion of the Sun Peaks resort), and at the national level, he has also taken the struggle international, following in the path of his father, the late George Manuel, President of the National Indian Brotherhood and founder of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Avi Lewis
Avi Lewis is an award-winning television journalist and documentary filmmaker. He directed the feature documentary, The Take, a story of hope and resistance in the global economy that follows Argentina's worker-run business movement. His previous television shows -- On The Map with Avi Lewis, a daily half-hour of opinionated international news analysis, and The Big Picture with Avi Lewis, combining hard-hitting documentaries and town hall debates -- aired on CBC Newsworld in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he was the host of Al Jazeera's Inside USA, a weekly series examining the real issues at stake in the US presidential election and is now the host of Al Jazeera English Television's Fault Lines -- a bi-weekly show that digs deeper into what is driving the big news stories of the day.
Veda Hille
6:45
One of Vancouver's most beloved singers, Veda Hille is what some of us like to call genious (Veda will hate that, oh decision... leave it in, take it out, leave it in...). She started playing piano when she was 6. First she played classical music. Then came pop music, and a few years of jazz. There was the ill-fated year as an inept lounge musician. Veda put out an indie cassette in 1992. People likes it and she started playing around town and then slowly started the business of touring Canada. In 1994 she released her first CD, and has released an album roughly every 18 months since then. Never at a loss for a fine set of lyrics, Veda writes about the natural world, the trickiness of love, and the constant threat of tragedy. Occasionally she writes about Craigslist postings. By the time she started working with her current band (assembled in 1997) she was regularly touring Canada, the US and Germany. She continues to make her own records, and does so in cahoots with Ape Records, run by XTC's Andy Partridge. Veda is the in-house composer for Theatre Replacement, has been performing with the CBC Radio Orchestra, writing for the Leaky Heaven Circus, and working on a new choral piece for the Winnipeg New Music Festival. This is in addition to being a member of two bands: Duplex! (rock music for kids) and The Fits (vaudeville duets).
It's the tenth anniversary of Veda's last performance (she also played in '96) and we're ecstatic to welcome back one of our all time favorite local artists.
http://vedahille.com
The 20th Anniversary Collaboration
7:15
Featuring Veda Hille and her awesome band, Declan de Barra, Jen Thorpe and Cris Derksen, this special project, created specifically for UTV, will see these artists gather in the days prior to the fest and learn some of each other's songs.
Cris Derkson is a half Cree classically trained electronic cellist. She has toured the globe with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, performed with Kanye West and continues to thrive off unexpected collaborations.
Jen Thorpe was the singer in local agit-punk band Submission Hold from 1993-2005. Fusing experimental punk sounds with free improv, eastern folk, chamber music and radically political lyrics, the band have often been held in the same regard as bands like Fugazi. The band played UTV on our 10th anniversary and we're happy to once again present once of the most unique and poweful voices from the past twenty years of music in Vancouver.
Delhi 2 Dublin
8:05
Delhi 2 Dublin is a group of five musicians who mash up electronica and world music, keeping it heavy on the bhangra, celtic and reggae dub flavours. Fusing tabla, fiddle, dhol, Punjabi vocals, guitar and electric sitar with scorching electronic beats, the crew takes listeners on a transcultural journey.
A short history: In 2006, a couple of Punjabi guys walked into an Irish Pub where a hot fiddler was playing. After her set they shared some drinks. They became fast friends and decided to walk to a nearby warehouse to check out a DJ at an after hours party. On the way, they noticed a Korean guy busking with his sitar outside of a pizza place. Upon buying the sitar dude a slice they decided that he should just come with them too. He did. The DJ at the party ended up being pretty decent, so after his gig the group of four invited him to go eat. He went. The food was okay, the service sucked, and the rest is history.
The band has played some of North America’s best festivals, including SXSW, Bumbershoot (Seattle), Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and the Regina Folk Festival. They also performed at Taiwan’s Keelung City Ghost Festival. This summer sees them playing Calgary, Winnipeg and Ottawa Folk Festivals.
Delhi 2 Dublin continues to break the mold with the recent release of its new genre-busting album, Planet Electric. It’s as if the band has been sent on a mission to further spread their sound beyond the planet and out into the galaxy. They describe Planet Electric “as the buzz of the world plugged into a large socket, electrifying the people and charging up their energy”. The album was mixed with noted UK producer Diamond “DJ Swami” Duggal (Apache Indian / Maxi Priest / Nusrat Fateh Ali).
Besides making great music, these musicians are almost more famously known for their incredibly high-energy stage performance which could be described as a human fireworks show! After all, where else are you going to see a kick ass fiddle player rocking out with a kilt-wearing Korean fellow flanked by two bouncing Bhangra percussionists and a vocalist who looks like he would be at home in a Bollywood music video?
http://www.delhi2dublin.com
Goons From The Moon
9:05
Goons From the Moon is a project recently started by Paul Skratch and Mike MSA.
Known for his trick mixing, beat juggling, and double time scratching, Paul Skratch (aka Pluscratch) has cemented his reputation as a major player in DJ battlegrounds, using the turntables to express his creativity. Paul has opened up for such artists as Cut Chemist, De La Soul, Kid Koala, MIA, ?uestlove and Talib Kweli and his competition accomplishments include 2004 Whistler Technics DMC Champion & 2005 Vancouver Technics DMC Champion.
A turntablist at heart, Mike MSA has been cutting up vinyl since the late 90s, competing in battles such as DMC's and ITF's to name a few. A member of the infamous Munkee Massv DJ crew back in the day, Mike was also involved with the No Luck Club.
Goons From The Moon have created a special set for our 20th Anniversary closing. Sampling artists from our previous 2 decades, "20 years in 40 minutes" will be the most fitting end to 20 years of amazing and radical music.
http://www.paulskratch.com
http://goonsfromthemoon.com
Abstract Random & Ayo Leilani
1:45
Abstract Random is an inter genre mixed media two human animal. Plus electronics, abstract random makes three: a trifecta, a trinity of wordbeatsound; ‘they’ have struggled to name the creature and must settle for electro experimental dub hop because the intention is in fact to blur the intersections, to cross the lines, to question the conformity, to disrupt dis reality - the title of their most recent EP offspring: disrupt dis reality BLURRRD. On stage they return to this intention in any space or situation: playing in bars or galleries, playing in face paint and costume under a video projection; from vancouver to montreal abstract random has opened for LAL and Climbing Poetree, played festivals including NXN, as well as almost every 88 days of fortune showcase as collective members since spring 2009. http://www.myspace.com/abstractrandom3
Ayo Leilani is a singer/songwriter/producer/promoter hailing from Toronto. With a musical style that ranges from hip hop to r&b, dance & breakbeat, Leilani offers her listeners sweet sounds without all the added preservatives. From songs about social justice issues, to loss, love and relationships; Leilani covers all the aspects of life. As the founding member of the Toronto-based music and multimedia collective ‘88 Days of Fortune’, Leilani has successfully carved out a niche in the city's indie music scene and continues to generate positive support from her mentors, peers and fans. http://www.myspace.com/ayoleilani
Los Migrantes
2:30
Arriving from different planes on the same stolen land to be welcomed by denial then raised by anti’s, mentored by stereos and reclaimed by community, Los Migrantes’ sound is influenced by their routes. It is the grinding cadence of nomadic music, poetics and politics pushing the smooth of horizons. In the midst of World War 0ngoing, turntablist/producer DJ Su-Comandante & lyricist Stahz Grandson offer broken translation.
Girls Rock Camp
3:15
Vancouver’s camp is by no means the first Girls Rock Camp. They are now dotted in various incarnations throughout the U.S, with some in Canada and Europe. The camp is an empowering journey, providing females from ages 8-18 years, with the opportunity to explore, access and play music with positive mentors.
The first Vancouver Rock Camp was held in August 2009, and provided a space for female youth to learn a key instrument, thus enabling them to play within a band setting. The week included performances from experienced female musicians, workshops, and one on one sessions with the youth. With a final showcase at The Cultch, the week finished with the ultimate experience of playing a live show in front of an audience of family, friends and screaming fans. The organizers of GRCV are firm believers in this project and the impact that it will have. They are committed to building self-esteem and developing life skills in young women while cultivating a supportive community of peers and mentors. As our society continues to push unattainable body image values, GRCV wants to reassure the leaders of tomorrow that there is more than a microphone and size 0 waistline. UTV is honored to partner with our fine friends of GRCV to present this special showcase at the festival.
http://girlsrockcampvancouver.ca
Crow Quill Night Owls
4:30
The Crow Quill Night Owls play a concoction of 1920’s and 30’s Blues, Hillbilly, Jazz, and everything that has fallen through the cracks between the three.
Kit “Stymee” Stovepipe and Caliope Kane met a few years back when they both were playing in other bands. They shared an interest in old music, silent films, drawing comix, staying up all night and each other.
The band play on traditional home made instruments along with a steel guitar and an old tenor banjo and render old standards ragged, and the obscure and forgotten strangely familiar.
http://www.myspace.com/thecrowquillnightowls
Sudanda Music Show
5:15
Sudanda was formed in 2004 around the vocals and oud playing of Alaaeldin Abdalla, whose repertoire comprises of both ancient traditional songs from Darfour and new compositions from small and funky ensembles. The combination of voice, oud, guitars, accordion, bass, horns and drums adds a modern timbre to the traditional sound of Sudanese music sensibilities.
Alaaeldin's compositions reflect his strong personal and political commitment to his Sudanese heritage and peace for Sudan. Rooted in basic North East African rhythms like the "mardoum", the music combines the variety of influences its players draw from. Joining Alaaeldin at UTV will be Tommy Babin on bass, Marc L'esperance on drums, Jane Kalmakoff on accordion and Earl Peach on guitar.
http://www.myspace.com/sudanda
Rogue Pinay & May Tawa Sa Lahat
6:45
Rogue Pinay is an emcee and cultural worker born in General Santos City, Philippines. With rhymes fluent and just as fluid in Tagalog and English, her music is devoted to connecting the issues of oppressed communities in the United States to the liberation of oppressed peoples worldwide. Her songs are dedicated to third world womyn and their resistance against imperialism
and class exploitation, focusing on stories of forced migration, violence against women, downbrownqueerwomanism and revolutionary change. Along with Christine Guiao and Rafaela Luna-Pizano, Pinay makes up trio May Tawa Sa Lahat. All coming from impassioned activist backgrounds, MTSL are 21st-century immigrant troubadours who are not afraid to reinvigorate
and reinvent their Philippine cultural heritage thru a rap verse calling out the excesses of global capitalism and empire, laid over a banjo strum and followed by a catchy chorus. MTSL are inspired by their immigrant
parents and the struggles of oppressed peoples everywhere. “…we were buried now can no longer be kept underground / we are coming around heeding the call to people’s service / Pilipina rebel
warriors ready to resurface…”
http://www.myspace.com/roguepinay
Cuauhtemoc
7:30
Named after Cuauhtemoc (Aztec leader who organized an Aztec resistance that succeeded in repulsing Spaniard forces from Tenochtitlan), the band’s sound ranges from hardcore punk to experimental noise to hip hop to son jarocho. Three of the original band members (who were at the time looking for a new drummer) were a part of the support network present when Sherman Austin surrendered to U.S. Marshals (Austin was charged under “anti-terrorism” laws for running the activist web site raisethefist.com). Symbolically, while surrounded by FBI agents and helicopters, the band decided that upon Austin’s release from prison he would become their new drummer.
The band explains their roots this way: “Music is a way of resistance. We’re not talking about cookie-cutter corporate manufactured nonsense but rather an expression of our own reality. This is the sound of broken families, exploited workers, fed up students and at the same time the sound of a confidence in a people’s ability to resist, and not only fight back but succeed”. Drummer Sherman Austin (also a hip hop MC) performed at UTV in 2008 and we are honoured to welcome him back.
http://www.myspace.com/cuauhtemoc9
Cristina Orbé
2:00
Cristina Orbé has been making art and music in Seattle since 2000. Her latest work is an enchanting pop punk rock journey
into a whimsical dungeon. Come drink the kool-aid and remember the let go.
http://www.cristinaorbe.com
Ivan Drury
2:25
Ivan Drury is an activist, writer, student, worker from Vancouver. He wants poetry to be useful as thought between theory and practice. He is proud to be reading at the final UTV and is sad to see it go.
Larissa Lai
2:40
Larissa Lai is the author of two novels, When Fox Is a Thousand and Salt Fish Girl. She has also authored two books of poetry, sybil unrest (with Rita Wong) and Automaton Biographies, as well as a chapbook called Eggs in the Basement. Through the 90s, she was a cultural organizer in feminist, GLBTQ and anti-racist communities in Vancouver. Now, as an English professor at UBC, she teaches courses on race, memory, and citizenship, as well as on biopower and the poetics of relation.
Junie Desil
2:55
Junie Desil is a Haitian-Canadian poet who has performed at many events and festivals. Her work has appeared in numerous print media. Junie is honoured to be at Under the Volcano’s last year in Cates Park.
Abstract Random & Ayo Lelani
3:10
An acapella set! (See their bios under Waterfront performers)
Press Release
3:30
Press Release is a poetry collective: they believe in and love creating works that are politicized, aesthetically compelling and relevant to current community struggles.
Chris Tate
4:00
Chris, aka Mr.Tait is an amazing writer and freestyler in the form of an 18-year old native youth warrior. He takes humour seriously.
Fayza Bundalli
4:10
Fayza is an Oakland-based, Vancouver-grown poet, a healer in a long line of medicine womyn. She co-chairs the Diversity Task Force at the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, and is currently an artist-in-residence with boundary-pushing San Francisco performance troupe Sins Invalid. She has been known to drop heavy shit gracefully.
Rita Wong
4:30
Rita Wong is the author of sybil unrest (co-written with Larissa Lai, Line Books, 2008), forage (Nightwood 2007), and monkeypuzzle (Press Gang 1998). She received the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop Emerging Writer Award in 1997, and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2008. Currently, she works at Emily Carr University and is researching the poetics of water.
Vancouver Youth Slam Poetry Team
5:00
MARCELLA HUERTA - Marcella Huerta is a 19 year Emily Carr student with many different notebooks that she fills fervently with poems.
TESSA BOURGUIGNON - Tessa Bourguignon as a B.C born French Canadian has spent her life hopping back and forth absorbing the culturally and artistically rich scenes of the east and western coasts of Canada and the U.S. Dabbling in any art form she can get her hands on, she has accumulated the most training in theatre but has now buckled onto the path of creative writing and journalism.
OLIVIA B. HAWTHORNE - Olivia B. Hawthorne is a seventeen-year-old writer/actress/photographer/musician/dancer/slam poet from East Van. She has been involved with Vancouver’s spoken word scene since 2007.
DIANA - Diana is a second year student @ SFU, working towards a major in world literature. Her writing focuses mostly on the physical and emotional aspects of different types of relationships many young adults seem to struggle with as they grow up.
PAUL FISCHER - Paul Fischer is a youth slam poet from Los Angeles, California. He fuses rhyme, meter, and diction to form a poetic experience unlike any other.
FRANCIS AREVALO - Francis Arevalo is a 17-year-old Vancouver poet who was the 2009 Vancouver youth slam champion, as well as a graduate from the East Van Cultural Centre’s IGNITE! Spoken Word Intensive, and a member of the touring spoken word Candelabra Collective.
