by VINCENT TINGUELY

February is the killer, but this city’s poetic impressarios have plans to warm us up with words and music. The centrepiece is the fifth annual Festival des Voix d’Amériques showcasing all things spoken from Feb. 10–17. This year’s guest of honour is the legendary Cree playwright and novelist Tomson Highway. “He hates to leave France in the winter,” says Voix director D. Kimm. “But he found that the Voix d’Amériques was crazy and very underground. And so he will work with Patty Cano to do the cabaret show they already did in Toronto and Europe.”

Other events include Love and Kisses From Vancouver, featuring the Fugitives, storyteller Ivan Coyote and singer Kinnie Starr; and an evening with Montreal-based Nomadic Massive, hosted by Mahalia Verna. Every night features the Shift de nuit/Night Shift cabaret hosted this year by Ivy; and there are daily happy hour shows featuring the likes of Toronto-based luminaries Klyde Broox, Maggie MacDonald, and Debra Anderson. Check www.fva.ca for details.

If you’ve ever witnessed the Kalmunity Organic Groove (Tuesday nights at Sablo Kafé), you’ve probably thought, “They gotta get this on disc!” Regular Kalmunity rapper Preach has inaugurated YoungStar Records to do just that. YoungStar will present members of Kalmunity and others in a special series of Sunday shows at Main Hall marking Black History Month. The Feb. 12 show is all women, and on Feb. 19 it’s Funk Franco, a francophone showcase. Another Kalmunity alumni, Stephen Thomas, is putting the finishing touches on My Spoken World, a CD on the YoungStar roster. Thomas also curates the continuing Soapbox series. “My long-term aim is to get more theatrical with the poetic performances,” says Thomas. “As an artist, to have different things required of me might challenge me. In March you’ll see the Soapbox in that way—taking artists out of the box.” See www.myspace.com/youngstarrecords for details.

Montreal’s longest-running spoken word series, Coco Café, kicks off its ninth year with Rejuvenation on Jan. 29, 8 p.m., at Jello Bar. Keep up with the monthly shows and much more at www.inobeproductions.com. Words and Music at the Casa kicked off the year with über-artiste Alexis O’Hara, and MC Ian Ferrier plans to keep the temperature turned up for the rest of the winter. “We’re gonna try and mix it up some more, get some input from the activist community, present at least four French poets in the course of the year, and get their texts translated for the audience,” says Ferrier. A regular feature will be a slam set with musicians. Ferrier explains: “The idea is to invite a bunch of poets to get up and present a poem or two, with a band. It’ll be a kind of curated free-for-all.” The next show is Sunday, Feb. 19 at Casa del Popolo, featuring Asthmatica author Jon Paul Fiorentino.