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[oratorealis]

Deadline Extension

Unannounced, but desperately human (Poems for the animal and the alive)

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the office staff here at oratorealis will be unable to process submissions for the next issue until a couple weeks from now, as such we are offering a small extension to our deadline giving you the opportunity to submit until Tuesday, October 31st.

Here is the original call for submissions, once again:

Poems often arrive at unexpected times and places and yet still in the moments when we find that we need them the most. These poems remind us that we are desperately human; we are animal and we alive.

For this issue, we are looking for submissions of these unannounced poems, the ones that come to us, shake us, wake us up and remind us that we are alive and we are all desperately human.

This issue is being guest edited by Mary Pinkoski.

Email your poems, essays or reviews along with your name, email, home address and 25-word third person bio to submissions@oratorealis.com - please do not send more than five poems. If you are interested in contributing an essay or reviewing a book or album, please drop us a proposal first so we can plan our pages accordingly.

We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions, however we ask that you notify us if your submission is accepted elsewhere. oratorealis retains first Canadian serial rights to any works published herein. Artists may reprint their poems any where or way they see fit, we simply ask you make note of having first published with us. All contributors will receive a complimentary copy of their issue, however we are unable to pay for content at this time.

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Tuesday, October 31 2017

*Please submit your content in .doc, .docx, .rtf or Google Docs format.

GUEST EDITOR: Mary Pinkoski, 5th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton (2013-2015), is an internationally recognized poet. She has performed on stages across North American and at the 2015 Winter Lights Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies. She is the 2011 Canadian National Spoken Word Champion and a winner of the 2008 CBC National Poetry Face-off. In 2015, Mary was recognized as an Edmonton Top 40 Under 40 and also awarded a University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award for her poetry work in the Edmonton community, in particular for facilitating poetry workshops and her creation of the City of Edmonton’s Youth Poet Laureate role which she continues to help coordinate.

[Photo: Curtis Trent]

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Mary Pinkoski

Why poetry?

because i have not yet burnt the skeleton bare/because the match struck willingly/because the flame/because the flood/

because i have not yet licked the bone dry/because the urgency came from within me/because the thirst/because the satiation/

because i have not yet worried the knot free/because the gnawing is not yet outside of me/because the anxious/because the calm/

because i have not yet dissected the heart clean/because there are still life-making things i know nothing of/because the thump/because the living

because i have not yet told the story whole/because the barren has not yet been filled/because of the loss/because of the divining

because i have not yet journeyed far enough with the stranger /because my body does not yet fully understand/because you/because all of us

because why not poetry?

What are you working on right now?

I have read that the perfectly pruned olive tree is one with enough spaces in between its branches for a sparrow to fly through without hitting its wings. So that is what is I am working on right now: becoming less bramble bush and more olive tree. I am trying to find the moments of quiet and contemplation that allow me to become a place that might house a sparrow, but also one that offers a path through. I guess I am also trying to become the sparrow. The sparrow that pauses long enough to sing a song important enough to the wind before flying back into world. There must, I think, be some undiscovered beauty in being both the sparrow and the olive tree. Once I find it, perhaps I too will be there for the offering.

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

1. Find a space that will allow me to suspend my disbelief in my ability for longer than 1.5 hours 2. Close the curtain to the outside world for a moment 3. Chew the pencil (aka bite the hook, aka open the laptop) 4. Remember what brought me to this moment 5. Ask of myself what Anne Waldman asks of outriders, though I am not an outrider: “How much backwards from your own death do you write?” 6.  Dive head first into Rich’s wreck 7. Somehow get your being spiritually to the place of Harjo’s Kitchen Table 8. Round up Oliver’s Wild Geese 9. Light a candle, Write into it 10. Wait patiently until a shore upon which to land safely appears 11. Land on it 12. Twist the knob 13. Open the door 14. Let the ghosts out

What is the best advice you’ve received as a poet?

“Be gentle with yourself.” – Jack McCarthy

Why do you live where you do?

I Come Home

In spite of all the magic and the adventure I come home I come home so I can remember the way the sun Never quits on us here I learn to meditate to its rising in the morning And settle with its fall in the evening I come home to brush heavy with the promise of Saskatoon berries And the hardy comfort of rosehips I come home to a river valley that grows green Until it doesn’t And then I watch it shake itself empty of yellow and orange I come home to a white paper, blank slate landscape Threatening to blind my eyes with its cold snowy glare Still it makes me want to write a story across this cityscape I come home to shovels and snowflakes To radio advertisements of winter escapes I come home to collaboration and creativity To this city’s song bridges that reach from bank to bank Joining our verses and our choruses in diverse melody I come home to potholes and pavement To fields of fire, dancing flames of wheat To the last days of a garden Watching the earth close itself up for hibernation I come home to roots and sprouts To sink my feet and my fingers deep into the soil Until I know again where I am from I come home to ground myself To remind myself of the stories that have made me who I am To acknowledge the sagas of the ones that have made us who we are I come home to recognition and honour I come home to meeting place river banks Water lapping my arrival, Moving in the same spirit of welcoming that it has moved for centuries I come to history and harvest I come home to the wanting and pleading To the challenges and the turmoil I come home to hurt and also to healing I come home to learn how compassion can sit in the Body of a city, in its people I come home ready to recognize pain and strength I come home to endurance and survival I come home to learning To sharing I come home to teach and be taught I come home to tenacity To my heart thick with the desire to make a difference in this city I come home to understand that we in this city are not much different than the endurance of the sun I come home to remember we are a city that does not quit on itself I come home to watch us rise in each morning And to see how we give praise for each of us, For this place, For our role in it I come how to know once again How to give a praise that lights up this home every day

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

To myself. It is both a welcoming and a returning every time.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

I am inspired by the ones who don’t just hold narratives between their teeth and only let us see it when they open their mouths. No, I am inspired by the ones who embody narratives in all ways. The midnight suns and the dark dawns. The creative and the clever. And most of all, they are by the grace of the universe, the ones who have held me and mentored me and guided me through my own poetic journey. I am proud to call them inspirations, but I am honoured to call them my friends. Lighting up this prairie girl’s heart, they are: Sheri-D Wilson, Regie Cabico, Jack McCarthy, Brendan McLeod, CR Avery, Evalyn Parry, Tanya Davis, Eva Foote (who forms the other half of my poetry-music project called The Low Down Self-Esteems), and Thomas Trofimuk.

(With fangirl shout-outs – don’t be judging on any of these - to Dolly Parton, Marina Abramovic, Sandra Bullock, and Julia Child).

I spend a lot of my life immersed deeply within an academic pool and while I know that we don’t often view academics as artists, I think we should begin to. I know that within the academy we can find those lighthouse people that Joan Didion speaks about, who provide these harbours of creativity. They stand aside, but a part of, because they make space for new ways of thinking, for beautiful ways to name how we make meaning of the world, and they articulate the very living we do in profound ways. I think there is an artistry in that. I would be negligent to not mention that I am inspired by these academics and the work they do/have done: Dr. Sara Carpenter, Dr. Jean Clandinin, Dr. Tammy Iftody, Dr. TL Cowan, Dr. Dia da Costa, and, of course without fail: Mr. Myles Horton.

What was the last book you finished reading?

Claudia Rankine - Don’t Let Me Be Lonely The Long Haul – Myles Horton

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

One of my most memorable moments was participating in the Underground Indies at the CFSW in Montreal. I somehow squeaked into the final three accompanied by the much more deserving Andre Prefontaine and Sabrina Benaim and, as the venue demanded we leave because they were closing, we performed our poems packed into a back alley. There was something magical about that, despite the fact that I tried to escape and go to bed.

I would be remiss to let this question go by without mentioning that I was also blessed to perform with Jack McCarthy at one of his final shows. I will forever hold on to that day as an inexplicable moment of grace that continues to smooth me around the rough times.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

Making a fantastic loaf of bread and serving a wonderful soup. Tending a garden. Keeping myself open to world so that I might continue to do the hard work. Doing the hard work. With those who’ve chosen to work with me.

Mary Pinkoski, 5th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton (2013-2015), is an internationally recognized poet. She has performed on stages across North American and at the 2015 Winter Lights Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies. She is the 2011 Canadian National Spoken Word Champion and a winner of the 2008 CBC National Poetry Face-off. In 2015, Mary was recognized as an Edmonton Top 40 Under 40 and also awarded a University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award for her poetry work in the Edmonton community, in particular for facilitating poetry workshops and her creation of the City of Edmonton’s Youth Poet Laureate role which she continues to help coordinate.

[Photo: Curtis Trent]

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Mitcholos Touchie

Why poetry?

I don't know why at the start… but I'm sure to check every day: "Why am I doing this again?" hahah!… At this juncture of my life, poetry's all I've got going on, to be honest. I went to uh, Banff, right? for a shitload of emotional work -- without being fuckin' homeless while I do it. I made my May 1st set from that. Now a few months later, I'm back in the shit, and I still need poetry.

What are you working on right now?

um… courage for my next set. Working on doing my self some fucking favors once in a while hahahah Working on loving my self and my mess… working on giving my self some space to be free, to be loose, in body and mind. I'm all fucked up in that aspect, among others.

What is your routine for writing?

It's 24/7/365 fuckin' chaos. Just answering these questions has me opening new notes w/ new premises and prompts. I have hundreds of lyric sheets, full of premises and thoughts and shitposts. My current lyric piles have been accumulating since 2009; both in real life, and in iTouch notes.

Do you have one?

Hah

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

The one's I appropriated and told other people hahah If it's worth hearing, it's worth telling. I think that's the point of building community. I want people to know all I know. The thing is, the way unceded territory works: there are settler rates, and there are ally rates -- if you request opinions, emotional work and content creation. Come correct with reparation$$$.

Why do you live where you do?

It all started back in 1492…

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

My childhood, my trauma, my future, my soul, my spirit, my creator, my naniiksu, my ancestors! Jumping from my tiny rez to Vancouver was like jumping into a wormhole. Little did I know, I was preparing for it. I was practicing forms of public speaking in my Youth Council years ago. Then for no reason, I started rehearsing a wack rap in my gran's basement… A lot of spaces between now and back then… but now I'm in this random dive bar writing for a Lit Mag (holy shit) while a shitty band plays and I ignore them hahah Poetry takes me away from shitty random bands when I need to escape them and their awfulness.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

The Dillinger Escape Plan. YelaWolf. Kendrick Lamar. Doug Stanhope. Q. Jillian Christmas. Frankie McGee. Kay Kassirer. Johnny MacRae. shayne avec i grec. 2 Dope Boys In A Cadillac. Jess Tollestrup. Wallgrin. Jillian Christmas. Gay Jesus. Audrey-Lane Cockett. Kelsey Savage. Mutya Macatumpag. Tanya Tagaq. Missy D. Pamela Bentley. Chelsea D.E Johnson. Lola Whyte. Old.Soul.Rebel. Uschi Tala. Robert Lashley. Ostwelve. Rex Smallboy. Kinnie Starr. Chief Dan George. Tanya Evanson. Dana I.D Matthews. Zaccheus Jackson-Nyce. Francis Arevelo. Kimmortal. Jaye Simpson. Santiago Ureña. Ayanda. Them Savages. Joe Budden. Royce Da 5'9". RC Weslowski. Fernando Roguero. Madeline Terbasket. Mother Girth. Saul Williams. Jillian Christmas. Countless others… for reasons.

What was the last book you finished reading?

Digging Up Mother, by Doug Stanhope. I don't know where to begin. It moved me. It taught me a lot about my own writing, and my own clumsy career trajectory. It gave me some interesting perspective on my relationship with my dead mother as well. I'll probably read it my whole life, and hopefully remember enough of my own shit to warrant a book -- if not just more poems.

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

2 Dope Boys In A Cadillac at the WISE Hall -- I wasn't performin' or nothin' -- I ran on stage after they finished their set, and I started rolling around and making angels in the water in Johnny MacRae's waterbowl spillage.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

I'm the wrong person to ask.

Mitcholos is a First Nations artist from a tiny reservation with no hopes or aspirations that anybody would chase if they had a MODICUM of sanity; which is convenient 'cause after 500 years of degradation, sanity is in woefully short supply; which makes his people fun. One Housekeeping Note: Be sure to wipe your white tears during and after the show. Though they be potent, are worth nothing. Until you invent technology that runs strictly on white tears -- technology that doesn't destroy the environment or enslave colored children somewhere -- it's worth nothing here, beyond sating and stroking Mitcholos' own exhibitionist, histrionic ego. Enjoy.

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Chimwemwe Undi

Why poetry?

Audre Lorde writes that poetry is “the quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives”. Co-sign! Toying around with language, making writing good and fun, surprising and necessary is not a luxury but it is a pleasure. It’s best thing you can do with words besides ordering food and thanking Black women.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on writing more about things that make me want to dance, and less about things I am certain will kill me and those I love, but the world makes that difficult. I’m also writing my master’s thesis.

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

I try to write everyday, even if it’s bad and it often is. It’s less a routine than a philosophy, rejecting the notion of writers block and viewing writing as a craft that I work on, even when I don’t feel inspired or moved and it’s not as fun. It’s like keeping the faucet running until the hot water comes out. I edit afterwards. I read a lot, so I don’t have to figure everything out by myself, and because books are good.

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

Read! And be kind to people.

Why do you live where you do?

I like it here. I’ve been a guest on Treaty One for a decade now, and I feel privileged to be party to so much of the hard, important work happening here. Winnipeg is like a kid who wasn’t very cool or good at sports and so has been forced to master comedy and compassion. It’s a small city and people collaborate on art and buy tickets to parties to help people pay for weddings they aren’t invited to.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

I did three performances at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (in Scotland) last summer, and spent the whole time like a human embodiment of the sax riff in that Carly Rae song.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

I struggle to rank inspiration, or to trace it. I’m thinking a lot lately about Missy Elliott, and always about Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, of course, and the song they did together that taught me the zodiac signs. I return frequently to work by Jillian Christmas, Dionne Brand, Vivek Shraya, Amber Dawn, Joshua Whitehead, Sleater-Kinney, Ross Gay. I copied out Terrance Hayes’ How to Draw a Perfect Circle and put it in my backpack so I could feel it there. I saw a Dineo Seshee Bopape exhibit in France last year and it keeps appearing in my head, Nina Simone, a pile of rubble, this red, red, room.

What was the last book you finished reading?

My chapbook was published alongside 9 brilliant chapbooks by young African poets, and they’ve been on backpack rotation. Katherena Vermette’s The Break is fantastic and necessary. I also just finished Priscilla Hayner’s Unspeakable Truths, which is about transitional justice, and was reminded that good analysis is truly poetic.

What has been one of your favorite moments on stage?

This filthily blasphemous performance I did with (shadow) puppeteer A Raven Called Crow, a banjo player named Adam, and a poem I had written that afternoon at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival in 2014. I was breathless and terrified that entire week, and I did things anyway.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

Still writing in every way I like to, still taking too long to get ready because I’m dancing too hard, still reading poems that remind me why I write them. Oh, and done with school, finally. A full-length would be pretty neat, too.

Chimwemwe Undi is a poet and linguist based on Treaty One territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has performed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and been published in CV2, Prairie Fire and Room Magazine’s 40th anniversary anthology, Making Room, along others. Her debut chapbook, The Habitual Be, is out from University of Nebraska Press.

[photo: Derek Ford]

[oratorealis]

Call for submissions - Special Issue: Unannounced, but desperately human (Poems for the animal and the alive)

Poems often arrive at unexpected times and places and yet still in the moments when we find that we need them the most. These poems remind us that we are desperately human; we are animal and we alive.

For this issue, we are looking for submissions of these unannounced poems, the ones that come to us, shake us, wake us up and remind us that we are alive and we are all desperately human.

This issue is being guest edited by Mary Pinkoski.

Email your poems, essays or reviews along with your name, email, home address and 25-word third person bio to submissions@oratorealis.com - please do not send more than five poems. If you are interested in contributing an essay or reviewing a book or album, please drop us a proposal first so we can plan our pages accordingly.

We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions, however we ask that you notify us if your submission is accepted elsewhere. oratorealis retains first Canadian serial rights to any works published herein. Artists may reprint their poems any where or way they see fit, we simply ask you make note of having first published with us. All contributors will receive a complimentary copy of their issue, however we are unable to pay for content at this time.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Sunday, October 15 2017

*Please submit your content in .doc, .docx, .rtf or Google Docs format.

GUEST EDITOR: Mary Pinkoski, 5th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton (2013-2015), is an internationally recognized poet. She has performed on stages across North American and at the 2015 Winter Lights Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies. She is the 2011 Canadian National Spoken Word Champion and a winner of the 2008 CBC National Poetry Face-off. In 2015, Mary was recognized as an Edmonton Top 40 Under 40 and also awarded a University of Alberta Alumni Horizon Award for her poetry work in the Edmonton community, in particular for facilitating poetry workshops and her creation of the City of Edmonton's Youth Poet Laureate role which she continues to help coordinate.

[Photo: Curtis Trent]

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Nasra Adem

Why poetry?

Cause it be everywhere. Poetry is life force unravelled. Poetry has yet to leave humans alone– we need it. It's the truth. It saves lives. It's the most ancient form of communion. It brings me back to myself daily, reminds me what is possible when I choose integrity and love. For self, for Gaia, for all life. It allows me to dispel and celebrate my secrets. Poetry reminded me my voice is crucial within intimate, global and cosmic conversation. It reminds me I'm bigger than I even have the capacity to imagine.

What are you working on right now?

I'm working on a chapbook and ep set, "Victory" and "Returning". Both explorations of who I am and what I'm deciding to do with that knowledge. I'm fascinated with rebirth and joy as radical and revolutionary forms of protest. The poems have helped me dig. Excavate what I've inherited, what illusions of Love i've bought in to, what histories contribute to my active consciousness etc. The poems help me return to what I've known, return to my Divine self and all the aspects of myself I've forcibly forgotten in the name of survival. The music reminds me I've always been a living, breathing orchestra of Light. That my only job here is to shine and help others come to their shine. The music reminds me that it's crucial that I play and dance and laugh– that I'm already winning/victorious just by existing joyously in my body/spirit. I'm working on manifesting a life that is creatively stimulating in every every every way possible. I'm working on redefining "possible".

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

Write snippets of poems at the most awkwardest of times. Leave the snippets alone. Come back to them, write more snippets. Leave it alone. Come back, piece things together or scrap everything and vigorously write a brand new poem with one line from the previous snippets. Free- write, free write, free write. I just do what I need at any given moment, I'm working on this whole routine/disciple/deadline thing though. Working on it.

What is the best advice you’ve received as a poet?

The questions always get me.

"Why didn't you win?"

"Who are you speaking to?"

Economy of language. Use your senses.

Why do you live where you do?

Edmonton is where I landed by way of the "boom" in 2008. I hated it. With a passion. For at least 5-6 years in. Then I found theatre and dance and poems. I'm here because there's a lot of love and history here. There's a lot of potential, and a lot of people who share the vision. I'm here because Edmontonian/Albertan people/artists of colour deserve a city that values them. I'm here cause can't everybody go head and dip to Toronto or Montreal. I'm here cause I'm really good at creating sanctuary and I believe in the artists and I know the work is really making a difference. I see it every day.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

Nuyorican Poets Cafe- my whole heart.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

All my women/femmes of colour making magic out of everything they got. Karimah, Lady Vanessa, Kimmortal, Mahogany L Browne, Jillian Christmas etc. These women stay building the life they need to sustain them and the other women/femmes around them. They keep me going. They my sisters. Their works saves me daily.

What was the last book you finished reading?

A wee lil precious book called Gratitude by Oliver Sacks.

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

Poemcees show at CFSW 2016! I got SO free, I damn near left my body. Impromptu twerk session with all the femmes in the audience and vocalizing over some spacey house music. That shit was wild.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

Living between Brooklyn and Edmonton and Ethiopia. Chillin. Touring. Protesting. Makin Love. Selling out shows. Dancing/playing music/spittin poems at music festivals full of brown and Black folk. Creating legit safe ass spaces for those I love. Growing.

Nasra Adem is a 23 year old queer, Muslim, multidisciplinary artist, community organizer and activist. She is the current Youth Poet Laureate of Edmonton and curator of Sister 2 Sister: an artist collective for/by femmes of colour and Black Arts Matter-Alberta's first all Black arts festival. Nasra is passionate about using art to disrupt, protect, educate, inspire and build forward moving Love within her communities.

[oratorealis]

Call for submissions - Issue 4

oratorealis is now accepting submissions for issue 4!

What fast strange year it’s been.

We are a literary journal committed to publishing Canadian spoken word and experimental poetry three times a year. Through poetry, essays and reviews, oratorealis aims to shine light on the sounds and ideas of this northern nation. Our goal is to bring poetry not frequently seen in print to the world-at-large; broadening the audience and connecting the artists.

oratorealis is dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and publishing quality poetry from Canada and elsewhere.

Email your poems, essays or reviews along with your name, email, home address and 25-word third person bio to oratorealis@gmail.com - please do not send more than five poems. If you are interested in contributing an essay or reviewing a book or album, please drop us a proposal first so we can plan our pages accordingly.

We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions, however we ask that you notify us if your submission is accepted elsewhere. oratorealis retains first Canadian serial rights to any works published herein. Artists may reprint their poems any where or way they see fit, we simply ask you make note of having first published with us. All contributors will receive a complimentary copy of their issue, however we are unable to pay for content at this time.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Thursday, May 25th 2017

*Please submit your content in .doc, .docx, .rtf or Google Docs format.

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Pamela Bentley

Why poetry?

Poetry slows us with story, sound, phrasing that takes us out of regular speech and allows us to express things that can’t be said so well in other types of writing. It asks for our ears and our breaths and our attention in a way that this sometimes-too- fast world makes little room for elsewise. I honour the conversations and connections this creates.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on Verses Festival of Words April 20 - 30 2017 in the role of Managing Director with Artistic Director Jillian Christmas. I had been involved in years past as the Volunteer Coordinator and as an Associate Programmer, but this is a whole new level of work and satisfaction in making space for artists and activism -- so important now -- and I love it. I invite everyone to come see all the fire that will be filling the spaces we have prepared.

I have also been in the process of putting together a manuscript of poems, after three chapbooks, and hundreds of performances, to try to get it published.

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

When I am writing, I write regularly, doing a semi-daily practice. I also enjoy writing in community and workshops, or in response to or in conversation with other poets. I have written much in that way that still satisfies me. But, life is messy and demanding, and I haven’t been writing much in the past year, partly because I have to do so much of it in my other paid work, but also because I write when I have something to say, and I have been feeling recently as though I do more good by creating space for others’ words and “passing the mic.”

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

About being on stage: Do what only you can do. No one else will.

And about writing: Consider each word and whether it serves the poem. If not, no matter how beautiful or clever, take it out or find another.

Why do you live where you do?

A palm reader that I visited on a whim once, told me that I would only be happy when I lived near a large body of water. I had just moved to the high desert then, nowhere near much water, and had never lived on a coast. It turns out she may have been right, but my concept of happiness has also changed, in part because I lived in the high desert alone, and was often sad, and happy, and lived through it all.

I came here to Vancouver eight years ago to try it out for three months after my mother’s death, and I stayed. The sea is solace, the only open space reminiscent of the prairies, giving me the sky-space I crave, while the mountains remind me of how to weather change and stay present in the world through it all.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

I can’t answer that in print because it would involve people who would not want their names mentioned. Suffice it to say that it involved a lot of skin and touch and sound.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

Louise Erdrich – I love her novels, how I think about her characters as though they are living after I’m done reading

Jillian Christmas – her ability and willingness to have the hard conversations needed to create change and resistance, and how that ability and willingness exist alongside, or perhaps because of, her great capacity for love

Brian Andreas – his “StoryPeople” images and stories, and the whimsical ways he sees things, on the edge of sentimentality but not quite – a place with which I am quite familiar

Leslie Marmon Silko and Tom Spanbauer -- the first books I read by each of them, Ceremony and The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon, respectively, changed irrevocably the way my mind works, and broke me out of all I had been taught before

What was the last book you finished reading?

Conflict is Not Abuse: The Overstating of Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair by Sarah Schulman

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

Hearing the words of a three voice piece I wrote, in the absurd delivery of Johnny MacRae and shayne avec i grec (and no, I am not kissing up), after I performed the first two segments of the piece at an anarchy slam at Vancouver Poetry Slam, and seeing and feeling the reaction and conversations the piece as a whole provoked on the stage and afterwards

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

I prefer to let things unfold as they will, so who knows? I do know I would like to be making plans for a big celebration for my then upcoming 60th birthday.

Pamela Bentley believes in conversation: narrative and reflective. She co-hosts Wax Poetic, and is co-producer for Terminal City Tales, on Vancouver Co-op Radio, where she is Director of Member Services and Fundraising. She hosts the (mostly) monthly 'Chicken Sessions' poetry/performance in her East Van home. She completed the Century Challenge -- 100 poems without repeating on VanSlam stages -- becoming the only ‘centurionatrix’ in N.A. She is Managing Director of Verses Festival of Words (versesfestival.ca)

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Johnny D Trinh

Why Poetry?

Poets are the people who remind us who we are as a people. We are descendants in a lineage of one of the most sacred callings. Whether an absurdist, neo-beatnik, neo-soul artist, griot, rapper, oral historian, queer bard who only writes Petrarchan sonnets, slam poet, activist all up in your feelings, comedian who happens to spit bars of magma, Aaron Simm, or serial lover with volumes of heartbreak ready for page or stage or YouTube... it's our work that reflects the world and lives that happen here.

And who wouldn't want to have the lowest paid profession in Canada? #goals. P.S. the goal is actually to elevate our presence so that we can make a difference, survive, and get paid.

What are you working on right now?

Laying tracks for an album, preparing for a spring/summer of festivals and tours: Victorious Voices, Saskatchewan Festival of Words, Hullabaloo, and a mini Ontario tour.

Directing a show, "Where I'm From", collaborating with some amazing poets and sound artists to create a performance that goes in, and real talks about intersectional identity and our histories here. Big thanks to WordPlay and the Vancouver Poetry House and the province for funding this gig.

And of course, CIPS! I'm the tournament director for the 2017 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam working with the amazing Jillian Christmas and Pam Bentley, and a squadron of amazing humans as part of the Verses Spoken Word Festival. PS- still looking for volunteers so hit me up.

What is your routine for writing?

I drive without the radio on. I walk through streets catching Pokemon- without my headphones. I place myself in spaces where I can listen to the stories around me. I am an actor- we actors watch for what we can steal and put on stage. I am a playwright- we listen for words we can capture for our next play. But as a poet- I listen to locate myself, and the stories I need to tell in proximity to other stories. This is not to say that I exclusively write autoethnographic/biographic narrative. I believe we have the ability and responsibility to share our skills with people who give us permission to, and/or need our help in telling their stories.

But I listen. And then I pray to understand my intention. I always first ask- "why am I writing? what is it I want? who am I? who am I talking to?" And then it begins. Then I lift the words off the page, by lifting my body off the floor and rolling around until I find where it lives in this voice.

Then I find an open mic/slam/feature to spit the new shit- and edit with the help of the audiences' ears.

What is the best advice you received as an artist?

So many people don't have a voice, instead of speaking for the voiceless, pass the mic.

Why do you live where you do?

The ocean. I needed the next place where I would grow as a poet. It takes a community to build an artist. We take from the community, we give back to the community, we are taken in by a community, we are ostracized from a community- we are always raised by those experiences. This is the next place for me.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

The bedroom. And many couches around the world.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

Sheri-D Wilson- from her I brought the "D" in Johnny D Trinh.

Jillian Christmas- a role model and a hero.

El Jones- when it's right, it's right.

Aaron Simm- he captures the human heart with light, wit, and honesty.

Jeong Kwan- listen to her speak, watch her cook, the truth of compassion is there.

Kai Cheng Thom- When we talk about being perfectly flawed, she captures the human spirit in all its complexities, intersections, and struggle to heal- perfectly. And then she passes the mic.

Allen Ginsberg- HOWL birthed the poetry in my theatre

Johnny MacRae- the other Johnny who's efforts have fed many poets.

Kay Ho- their photography sees the world through intersectional lenses that speaks in millions of words across every language. Big love for what they do to support artists who fall through the intersectional spaces.

What is the last book you finished reading?

FOODIE: EAST VAN

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

F@#*K MY RICE PADDY DADDY at CAPTURING FIRE Queer Spoken Word Festival with REGIE CABICO. Queer Asian Showcase. The truth in that room changed my life.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

Teaching spoken word performance to poets. Taking the mic when needed, and passing the mic to people who need it. Recognizing that new/young voices don't necessarily equate to age. When an artist discovers their voice- it doesn't matter how old they are. If we are all welcome to the mic, let's nurture a compassionate space for that to happen. I am starting this journey now, 5 years from now, I want to be doing this full time on the largest scale possible.

Johnny D Trinh is an established interdisciplinary and spoken word artist. Highlights: Verses Festival- CIPS Tournament Director 2017, Regina Slam Champion 2016, Finalist- CIPS 2016, Finalist- Capturing Fire 2016 & 2015 (Washington, DC).  Feature performances: Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (2016, 2015), Pride Toronto (2016), Toronto Poetry Slam, Tonight It’s Poetry (Saskatoon), Victoria Poetry Slam, Toronto Art Bar Poetry Series, Saskatchewan Festival of Words (2017,2016,2015), WordPlay Poet, Saskatchewan Artists in Schools Program.Training: Banff Centre for the Arts, MFA: Interdisciplinary Studies: Theatre & Creative Technology- University of Regina, Dell’Arte International School for Physical Theatre: Summer Intensive, Musical Theatre Performance: Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts, Hon. BA- Drama- University of Waterloo. Johnny’s practice and pedagogy is rooted in the constant goal of fostering a sense of empowerment, agency, and compassion. Pass the mic, or silence the future.

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Dana I.D. Matthews

Why poetry? Why not? It's great for emotional relief, and an easy way for you to reflect on those emotions. I first fell in love with rap and hip hop culture. Rapping is itself a form of Spoken Word poetry. With that in mind I brought a rap verse to the London, Ontario Poetry slam. With the awesome performances from the other poets, and the kindness of a friend after not fairing as well as I'd hoped in competition. Here I am, still doing it.

What are you working on right now? Everything! Long story short, trying my best to expand the Dana I.D. Matthews brand. Making the story a litter longer. I'm working on an ongoing talk show, an ongoing review show, and an ongoing rap/hip hop music remix series where I take popular instrumentals and try to out-lyric the original songwriter and/or performer. All of this is on my YouTube channel. On top of this I'm also creating original mixtapes and albums in between everything else, releasing only 1 song and/or video at a time in an attempt to maximize my reach and relativity. What is your routine for writing? Do you have one? None at all, I always end up writing at least a little tidbit everyday. Perhaps in the first 2 years upon entering the spoken word community I wrote full 3 minute poems everyday. However now I find myself taking more time and leisure in constructing my poetry. Makes it feel more natural for me. I don't always feel like sharing, so I shouldn't expect myself to. What is the best advice you've received as a poet? Don't stop. A simple tidbit, but you'd be surprised how important that is. People often do things in spurts or short bursts. In my opinion I don't think this gives the craft the respect it deserves. Keep at it. If it matters, don't stop. Why do you live where you do? I live where I do because that's where my family is. There's also a whole mess of stuff I could get into but......naahhh. Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you? Wildest........inside myself. The things that poetry has allowed me to learn about myself are extremely valuable to me. I thank it for this. Always. What artists most inspire you, and why? I will mention my favorite as to not ramble: Ian Keteku. Between his world class poetry, educator skills, dedication to the craft, overall intelligence and great personness, I just have a hard time not listening to everything the man says. I've attended a workshop, heard his rap, watched his TED talk, and really listened to his latest poetry album (Love & Lumumba) . In my eyes, he's a blessed individual who genuinely cares about people. He's a good person. What was the last book you finished reading? Stick to Your Vision: How to Get Past the Hurdles and Haters to Get Where You Want to Be by Wes Williams, aka Maestro Fresh Wes. He's a Canadian hip hop legend and the book was all about teaching how to stick to your vision through the people you surround yourself with, to your own thinking. As another black man in Canada, I was very inspired by this book. Coincidentally, so was Drake. What has been one of your favourite moments on stage? To be honest I don't have a favorite, I enjoy performing, but I don't enjoy being on stage.....but I do and I'm good at it....you know? lol. Like I've said before. Since taking up boxing, I've learned that I'd rather take a punch to the face than perform on stage. But they are both equally fun. If I had to pick one I'd say it was the experience of my first CFSW. On and off the stage. My memories of that week changed my life as a person. I'll never forget it. What would you like to be doing five years from now? Exactly what I'm doing now but on a larger scale with a little acting on the side...and with everyone involved outside of myself provided for in ways that make for a comfortable way of life. 

Dana I.D. Matthews, a Haitian-born poet & MC, was adopted and raised in Canada. Now an independent Vancouver based artist, Dana has a voice that naturally commands the attention of anyone in the room. His diverse lyricism springing from his unique upbringing & extensive spoken word poetry background. Currently, he is working on expanding his resume, focusing on building his brand that surrounds his recording, engineering, & editing skills.

[oratorealis]

Call for submissions - Issue 3

oratorealis is now accepting submissions for issue 3!

We are so grateful for the wild ride that was year one and couldn’t be more excited to be entering year two.

We are a literary journal committed to publishing Canadian spoken word and experimental poetry three times a year. Through poetry, essays and reviews, oratorealis aims to shine light on the sounds and ideas of this northern nation. Our goal is to bring poetry not frequently seen in print to the world-at-large; broadening the audience and connecting the artists.

oratorealis is dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and publishing quality poetry from Canada and elsewhere.

Email your poems, essays or reviews along with your name, email, home address and 25-word third person bio to oratorealis@gmail.com - please do not send more than five poems. If you are interested in contributing an essay or reviewing a book or album, please drop us a proposal first so we can plan our pages accordingly.

We are happy to accept simultaneous submissions, however we ask that you notify us if your submission is accepted elsewhere. oratorealis retains first Canadian serial rights to any works published herein. Artists may reprint their poems any where or way they see fit, we simply ask you make note of having first published with us. All contributors will receive a complimentary copy of their issue, however we are unable to pay for content at this time.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Tuesday, February 28th 2017

*Please submit your content in .doc, .docx, .rtf or Google Docs format.

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Janet Rogers

Why poetry?

Poetry came out the winner between it and visual arts like painting and photography. When I moved to Coast Salish territory from Haudenosaunee territory, I came here with a little budding career as a visual artist in full swing. Two years after living here I began writing, pretty steadily. After a while the writing was going farther in a shorter amount of time than the visual work ever did and I must have made a conscious decision to follow the path of writing, although I can’t pin-point exactly when that was. So I would say writing and writing poetry in particular was a gift I found here on the west coast. It was like the words were waiting for me here. A blessing to be sure.

What are you working on right now?

I just completed an article for CBC digital which is a reflection of the Lament for Confederation penned and recited by Chief Dan George in 1967 at Canada’s 100th Anniversary. I had planned to respond to his poem/speech with poetry and I still plan to do that, but CBC reached out and I thought providing a current perspective on that iconic piece of writing by a well known and highly revered man, would be a way of addressing our progress or lack there of, as a country with a very abusive history with Indigenous nations. A kind of a how-far-have-we-come sort of piece.

I’m also writing a pitch for a media project with APTN – The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. The way I see my history and experience as a visual artist coming back into my work is through media i.e. combining film and poetry or visuals and audio. Neither of the writing listed here sounds very creative, but I have recently launched my 5th poetry book Totem Poles and Railroads and after traveling with it in the fall, I’m taking a bit of a break before I start to take it on the road again later this month and throughout the year.

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

I’ll answer this question like this; Whenever I am on the road or away for projects or conference work or what have you, I bring my cat Mister Bakerman to my mother’s (his grandmother) where he gets to luxuriate in her attention and regular routine of being fed on time the same time each day, he gets brushed regularly and upon request, she basically spoils him and he loves the regularity built into her lifestyle. With me, he sees me come and go frequently. He gets fed first thing in the morning, but he sometimes has to remind me about afternoon cat-snacks. I usually don’t have time to brush him and my bedtime is never the same time from night to night.

My writing is the same way.

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

Name your babies – in other words always title your work. Richard Van Camp told me this.

And, there are no good writers, only good editors. Garry Gottfriedson told me this.

Why do you live where you do?

I lived in Toronto for 13 years  - 10 of which I was drunk. After I got sober I took a look around Toronto and thought, geeze I better get out of this place. There was a small contract available to work at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre on a summer festival so I came out to do that, and thought I’d give it 5 years to see if this territory and I would get along. Well I have to say, this place embraced me from the start, things really clicked when I got here and I’m so glad I came here as a sober person, that I could offer my true self to this place. Further more the Salish people really welcomed me too so that was the clincher. I’ve been a guest and a visitor on Coast Salish territory for 23 years. I’m here for the trees. Some folks come here for the ocean, but I’m here for the trees and the fresh clean air.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

In August of 2013 I was invited to read/perform at a poetry festival at the Lincoln Centre in NYC, called LaCasita. As it so happened, there was an historical Two Row canoe paddle down the Hudson River the week after I read so I stayed to partake in that. The Two Row is a 400 year old agreement between early Dutch settlers and my people. Without going too much into that agreement, I had written and developed a piece of writing the year before the paddle, which I got to present at the 2nd to last rest stop of the canoe convoy. It was pretty surreal to be sharing my poem, which spoke directly to what the paddlers were actually doing. The next day they reached their destination at the Piers in Manhattan where Pete Seeger was in attendance (just months before he passed). We then all marched over to the UN Building and were allowed inside to hear the speeches on the Day of Indigenous Rights. That was the coolest and proudest poetry moment of my life. A side note: my Mohawk people were the original inhabitants of Manhattan before we got pushed up through the Ohio Valley into parts of what is called Canada today.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

Black artists and Indigenous artists inspire me because I get to learn about my own life and see reflections of my own truth in work/art by Black and Indigenous artists.

What was the last book you finished reading?

Robbie Robertson’s biography titled Testimony. I’ll be interviewing him this week for my radio program Native Waves Radio. He’s a really good story teller and his life is so amazing. His Mom is from my rez, Six Nations. So I look forward to interviewing him.

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

I got to dance on stage twice last year. I love dancing!!!!!! When Prince died, I asked the DJ at the gig to turn up some good Prince music and I just danced my little heart out for him. And in Hamilton, I complimented the DJ at that gig and he cranked some A Tribe Called Red so I did my best pow wow steps on stage for a bit. That was really fun. It’s good energy to share with people. When people see other people dancing, it makes them happy.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

Five years from now it will be 2022 – is that right? Holy shit!

In 2022 I’d like to have a few very successful media projects under my belt such as podcasts and documentaries and media installations. I’d really like to be able to live part-time here and part-time on my rez so I can have access to Mohawk language classes and resources. I’d like to be able to garden more.

Janet Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer from Six Nations. She was born in Vancouver British Columbia, lived in Stoney Creek, Hamilton and Toronto Ontario and is living as guest on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people (Victoria, British Columbia) since 1994. Janet works in the genres of poetry, spoken word performance poetry, video poetry and recorded poetry with music. Janet is also a radio broadcaster, documentary producer, media and sound artist. Her literary titles include; Splitting the Heart, Ekstasis Editions 2007, Red Erotic, Ojistah Publishing 2010, Unearthed, Leaf Press 2011 and “Peace in Duress” Talonbooks 2014 and Totem Poles and Railroads ARP Books 2016. You can hear Janet on the radio hosting Native Waves Radio on CFUV FM. Her radio documentaries “Bring Your Drum: 50 years of Indigenous Protest Music” and “Resonating Reconciliation” won Best Radio at the imagaineNATIVE Film and Media festival 2011 and 2013. Janet Rogers and Ahkwesase Mohawk poet Alex Jacobs make up the poetry collective Ikkwenyes, which produced the poetry CD Got Your Back and won the Loft Literary Fellowship prize 2014. 2Ro Media Inc is the production company she and Mohawk media artist Jackson Twobears own and operate which produced the short experimental documentary NDNs on the Airwaves about CKRZ FM Six Nations radio. Janet produced and launched a 6-part radio documentary series titled NDNs on the Airwaves focused on the current history of native radio in Canada, in February 2016.

[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Rebecca Thomas

Why poetry?

I will always push for change and improvement for Indigenous communities in Canada. I did a master’s degree, believing that university was going to be how I was going to make change. I studied my communities, wrote a thesis that nobody would read and became very disillusioned with how I was going to shift public perception with regards to Indigenous peoples. I stumbled into poetry after a professional development workshop at work several years ago. It turned out that I had a knack for it. What was more important to me was that people started listening to what I was saying. I’ve had people approach me after performances saying that I changed their minds, that they learned something new, or that they never thought of the issues that way before. What’s even more amazing to me is that I’ve had Indigenous folk reach out to me from across the country and North America to thank me for being a voice for them or that I give them hope. Here’s the real controversial thing for a Poet Laureate to say: I don’t want to be a poet. I want to be a change maker and I use poetry to do that.

What are you working on right now?

In addition to all my Laureate duties, I am currently working with a publisher to tell my story as a children’s book. I’m mixed race; my dad is Mi’kmaq First Nation and my mom is White. I grew up off reserve and for the entirety of my childhood, my dad wasn’t around much. It took me a while to really understand that not only was I Native, but that I was Mi’kmaq. I was called “Indian” by the white kids and “little white girl” or “halfbreed” by some of the Native kids. There are so many Indigenous kids and people who have mixed ancestry and it can be really hard not fitting into either world. I wrote a poem that tells my story of finding my feet or “moccasin size” as a line in the piece goes. Right now, we’re working on a narrative that will translate well into print but still keeps my style of rhyme, prose, and delivery along with illustrations that match the emotion of the story. True to Rebecca style, I leave my heart on the pages as readily and earnestly as I do on the mic.  

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

I’m a sloppy writer. I’m not good at setting time aside to just write. I have a full-time job that I love. I work at a college supporting Indigenous, International, and Arts students like musicians, photographers, and journalists. I love to help but I take on way too much sometimes. Because of that, time is at a premium. I am a constant writer but in short snippets in between student meetings or gigs. I find that I write really well under pressure; especially if I have a line or concept buzzing in my brain but a limited amount of time to work on it. I like to challenge myself to be creative in the small bit of time I have. I have a phone filled with notes and poems and a journal filled with half done, wholehearted pieces that I tweak constantly. Everyone once in a while I’ll get into a mood where I’ll sit and write a whole piece from start to finish.

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

Be sure to diversify your pieces, you wouldn’t want to be pigeonholed as the “Native Poet.” And then I said, fuck that.

Why do you live where you do?

I live in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq. It holds my people and my heart. I grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick and moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I felt like I could finally breathe when I left NB. I’m an ocean girl. I feel claustrophobic when I spend too much time inland. I’m irrationally afraid of the super earthquake that is supposed to hit the west coast and there is something about the slowness of the east the appeals to me. Don’t get me wrong, the east has its issues with poverty and racism but at least it’s pretty and cheap.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

My title as “Poet Laureate” has taken me to some pretty neat places and provided unique opportunities to perform in spaces that aren’t really “Native friendly” or places that are steeped in rhetoric and tradition, often not places full of art and expression. I’ve been able to perform critical Indigenous poetry for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, one of the Commissioners for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in various other political contexts. I think that’s pretty wild because these are traditionally colonial spaces of power and oppression. Someone somewhere thought it would be a good idea to invite a scathingly critical Indigenous poet into those spaces. I’m not about to turn down an opportunity to hold up the proverbial mirror to law and policy makers. Now whether or not they listen is up to them but I know I can be pretty convincing. I just hope I’m not simply a token.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

I’d say that I’m really inspired by those who are willing to leave their hearts out there. I like Shane Koyczan’s ability to create beautiful and vivid images of love, I respect El Jones’s tremendous power and voice on Black, Indigenous, and prison issues, but I have to give Mi’kmaw poet, residential school survivor, and hero, Rita Joe, the most credit. She was talking about Indigenous injustice DECADES ago. He poem “I Lost My Talk” (a poem about cultural genocide) was honoured nationally in Ottawa in the beginning of January 2016. She attended the same residential school as my father. He doesn’t talk much about his time in the school so her poetry helps me understand a bit of his experience. I get lauded as the first Indigenous Poet Laureate of Halifax but I would not be here if it wasn’t for Rita Joe’s willingness and bravery to write about the ugly history of Canada.

What was the last book you finished reading?

The last book I read was The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew.

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

I wrote a poem about my dad titled “An Indian Called Sir.” It was about my experience growing up with him and how his drinking had affected me but that I now understand why he did what he did. He is almost 16 years sober but at that time, he was coping the best way he knew how and that he did his best given the circumstances of his life. He didn’t know how to raise children because he had never been raised with love or affection. I was performing this poem with him in the audience at the Ottawa Verse Fest. When I had finished, my dad got up out of his seat, came up to the stage and gave me the biggest bear hug. When we let go and I looked at the audience, there were tears everywhere. I was crying, my dad was crying, the audience was crying. It was a pretty powerful moment.

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

I’d like to be helping change Canada’s view on Indigenous people. So, I’d say much of the same stuff I’m doing now but maybe with a bit more influence. At what age does a woman need to be to be taken seriously? Is it 35? I just don’t ever want to be lulled into thinking Canada and Indigenous peoples are even, you know? Let’s say being an advisor to the PM on how badly they keeping fucking up Native stuff. I’ll be there to keep their feet to the sacred fire, so to speak.

Rebecca Thomas is a Mi'kmaw woman living in Mi'kma'ki (Nova Scotia). She is the daughter of a residential school survivor whose family is rooted in Lennox Island First Nation, Prince Edward Island. Rebecca is outspoken when it comes to confronting Indigenous stereotypes, as well as educating her colleagues and the general public about cultural safety and integrity. She is Halifax's current Poet Laureate. Most of her work focuses on the relationships between Canada's First Peoples, their relationship with the federal government, and how First Nations' people are perceived publicly. Rebecca is on a life long journey to promote understanding and empathy for Indigenous people and marginalized communities. Listen to the First Peoples of Turtle Island. We've been here longer than you.

[photo by Javian Trotman]

[oratorealis]

Publisher’s Favourites - Canadian Poetry 2016

even this page is white by Vivek Shraya Injun by Jordan Abel Serpentine Loop by Elee Kraljii Gardiner The Dirty Knees of Prayer by Timoth Shay A Mingus Lullaby by Dane Swan Ignite by Kevin Spenst Magyarázni by Helen Hajnoczky TH BOOK by bill bissett How Festive the Ambulance by Kim Fu Late Victorians by Vincent Colistro 

[oratorealis]

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[oratorealis]

Dimepiece :: Steve Locke

Why poetry?

I appreciate the heightened language and the focused tension of any piece that claims a brief moment of someone’s head space, then lingers. The snapshots of moments that condense whole concepts, feelings, or histories. Performance and community-wise, I love our little dead poets society. The way we all want to transcend our school desks and stand above those who never lift their eyes from their books – to give them a reason to look up and pay attention. We’re all born with a voice. We’re all governed by the built-in rhythms of our bodies. It might have been a burden once, that I was the only one to hear my own. It was a hell of a thing to share them, and then to shut up and listen to everyone else’s in the community, to feel what we’re all carrying with us as people.

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I’m buying myself some free time by working as an arts educator through the Manitoba Arts Council. I’ve been working with (mostly) middle years students in building their confidence as public speakers through spoken word workshops, one or two weeks at a time. It’s very fulfilling, and the money is good enough that I was able to take most of November off to work on a YA novel.

I’ve been plugging away at this thing for years, workshopping it at The Banff Centre and as an apprentice through the Manitoba Writers Guild. After years of coping with real life (soul-crushing work, break-ups, moving across the country, soul-crushing work, BPD, break ups, existential crises, break-ups) I’ve finally built up enough of a name for myself as a poet that I can get back to work as an author, which was my first passion before I discovered slam.

I’ve put the time in to research my characters, their disorders, and social contexts, not to mention a whole whack of fleshing out the skeleton of the story itself. With November being National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I challenged myself to gather up these pieces and get to some serious writing. I’m happy to say that I’m just about at 30,000 words, which is a pretty solid start to a full-length project. It’s not quite the numbers that the actual challenge calls for, but I’m quite proud of the work.

I won’t say anything about the story at this point, besides that I’m doing that thing where the writer forces their protagonist to struggle through increasingly difficult and painful obstacles. She’s a resilient creature, and I’m very fond of her. If she were real, I would apologize in person for putting her through it all. Then I’d buy her a beer, but not until after she has the baby.

Shit. I guess I did give some of it away. Well, I hope that piques your interest enough to read it someday.

In the meantime, I’m working towards pitching a spoken word/graphic novel project to publishers of educational material. It’s a collab with my friend, Cameron (O’Hara) Burns, who works in digital art and animation. It’s been exciting to see the writing translate into the visual format because I’ve always loved comics, and used to dream of creating them.

What is your routine for writing? Do you have one?

I’d love to say that I have one that’s consistent over a lengthy period. Usually, I’d be struggling to find - not the time - but the energy to stay tuned in to creativity after another shift in the service industry. It takes so much of us who hold so much back for those micro-transactions. If I was dogged after work, I somehow thought it was best to save my energy for the shift the next day instead of push myself towards something more meaningful. The job was paying my bills (barely) and buying my food (barely). This whole writer thing was something that might reciprocate someday in the future, but not today when my beloved cat needs his wee tender vittles and I need a place to poop comfortably in private.

This is a cliché to say, but it must become a discipline if you want to see any results. It got to a point where I was technically working two jobs, where the other was writing. I couldn’t sleep well if I didn’t put in a certain amount of time in a week that was devoted to taking what was preoccupying me at my “real job,” and put it down on paper. It would rot in me otherwise.

I think I’ve become healthier in my writing practice, which has made me healthier in my practice of being a person. I was struggling with a personality disorder, until it got better because I just chose the one I wanted to be the most and soon, the other guy sort of went down for a nap. Me, I’m wide a-fucking-wake. For now, at least.

What is the best advice you've received as a poet?

“Shut the fuck up, Steve.”

Why do you live where you do?

Winnipeg? I’m built for this place. Right down to the atom. I’m built for affordable rent, for “dressing up to dress down,” the “dry cold.” I’ll take snot-freezing weather over the warm, grey, Vancouver rain any day. I can say that because I used to live there. I can also say that now, I’ve finally got my own SAD lamp. It’s called the sun, dude.

But yeah, there’s opportunity here. There’s such a thing as unpretentious hipsters. I mean, we’re still hipsters, but we wear long johns under our skinny jeans, you know what I mean? We’re all stuck in the middle of the bottom of the country (elevation-wise) in the middle of winter, together. As Canuckleheads, we all have to check our ego at the Rockies and get along, somehow. So we start up floor hockey leagues, we join bands. We write poems and make films and throw fundraiser pot-lucks on the cheap so we can keep going. Personally, and financially. But in that audience will be other broke-ass artists, so you make friends and collaborate. You do a show and make a couple bucks to get by, both spiritually and financially.

We’re all built with a chip on our shoulder, which means that maybe we all got sold short living here. At least to people in more affluent, pretty cities who think this town is a dump. Most of us are stuck here. Some of us leave and make it elsewhere. Me, I came back to work and build something for myself, and others who have ever walked by those cozy cafés on snowy nights, cupping their mittens around their eyes to steal a gaze of the merriment behind frosty windows.

We keep ourselves warm. We keep each other warm.

Where is the wildest place poetry has taken you?

Well, I guess it’s all down hill from my first slam ever, seeing RC Weslowski’s junk on stage at Van Slam for his feature with Sweater Vest. I saw “Righteous Cock” in all his glory.

I don’t suppose there are many poets besides my 2014 WPS [Winnipeg Poetry Slam] team members, who could say they’ve ever seen themselves perform on a Jumbotron. It was during the CMHR’s [Canadian Museum of Human Rights] opening weekend, where they pulled out all the stops on that outdoor stage. I’ve never been backstage for a concert or anything like that, but before that performance, practicing my poems, I realized that I was backstage for my own show, and had a “holy shit” moment. Took a few beer to come down from that one.

What artists most inspire you, and why?

I’ve recently been taking a lot from one of my earliest writerly heroes, Miriam Toews. She taught my first creative writing workshop way back when, and was the most down-to-earth person I ever met. She’s absolutely brilliant, of course, but you’d be disarmed by how friendly and chill she is. I mean, I have this thing where I never want to meet my heroes. They’ll always intimidate me, or maybe let me down. But she became a hero because I met her, and I learned that I didn’t have to be afraid to seek wisdom from more experienced writers, or to let their advice influence my work.

What was the last book you finished reading?

The Lesser Blessed, by Richard Van Camp. He’s quickly becoming one of my favourite writers.

What has been one of your favourite moments on stage?

Probably when I was performing “Hail Winnipeg” at my first feature, and my parents were in the audience. I spoke the lines, “Hail Winnipeg/where we fuck to stay warm/in our parents’ vans, in canoes/and basement furnace rooms” and my Mom shouts “I knew it!” or something like that. I had introduced them at the beginning of the poem, saying that I was going to embarrass them. The crowd burst out laughing and somehow, Mom had turned it against me. What a good sport, eh?

What would you like to be doing five years from now?

I would very much like to see both the graphic novel project, and the YA book in print. It could take a while, but even if I’ve taken the next step and am working with editors towards a more polished manuscript, I’ll be ecstatic to do the work.

Basically, it all has to do with the work. I hope that there might be a few victories along the way in terms of - I don’t know, a publication or award, or something - but I’m actually quite happy to be working on material, as well as performing in the odd show and workshopping with kids. Basically, if I can keep up what I’m doing now, I think I’ll be pretty much okay.

Steve Locke is a Winnipeg writer, poet, and arts educator. His written work has appeared in CV2, Prairie Fire, and Poetry is Dead. As a spoken word performer, he has featured at community stages and festivals across Canada, including The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, The Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and The Winnipeg International Writers Festival. Currently, he is engaging youth in spoken word as part of Manitoba Arts Council’s Artists in the Schools program.

[photo by Brett Reid]

[oratorealis]

We’re very excited to reveal Leya Tess’s amazing cover to you all... but not quite yet.

In the meanwhile, here’s a look at the back cover featuring this issue’s brilliant contributors!