The people
have spoken

>> Montreal’s spoken word performers
take their shows to foreign streets

INSPIRED BY ITALY: Valerie Khayat

by VINCENT TINGUELY

Montreal’s spoken word scene continued to make waves internationally, with Catherine Kidd’s extended tour to Europe and South Africa, and the storming of the Berlin poesiefestival by Fortner Anderson, Alexis O’Hara, D Kimm, Michel Vézina and others. Anderson also performed at the International Poetry Festival in Genoa, Italy, and at the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival; and in November, he became the first recipient of the newly inaugurated Voice Electric award for spoken word.

“I’m very thankful,” says Anderson. “It’s one of the first awards of its kind in the country, and it’s very important that such recognition exists.”

Sadly, one of the pillars of the Montreal scene, Coco Café, quietly ceased its activities this fall. The city continues to boast a wide range of venues for innovative poetry and spoken word performance, including the popular French series Slamontréal, the Atwater Poetry Project, Poetry Plus and Élizabeth Robert’s multilingual Noches de poesía. “When spoken word appears, it’s vigorous, vital,” Anderson muses. “But when the words go silent, there’s no trace of them. Hence there’s always a need for new events and new performers to fill that space and speak the words that people need to hear.”

One of the newest voices on the Montreal scene this year is Valerie Khayat, who launched a book of poetry, The Road to Vesper in July, and a CD of songs, Resonance in Blue in October. “What triggered my decision to release the works was a trip to Milan, Italy late last year,” says Khayat. “I stayed at my grandmother’s for a little over a month, travelled, wrote, composed and recorded. My grandmother was an incredible source of support and wisdom for me, which made it possible for me to complete those works.”

Like Kyra Shaughnessy and NEeMA, Khayat channels her creativity into both words and music. “I actually started with poetry, my first love is writing,” Khayat explains. “I feel that as I learn from my experience of performing, the music can reach even more people, because the singing voice adds yet another emotional element. It’s a different kind of cathartic experience.”

Like many young Montreal performers, Khayat has found her community in cabaret-style events like the Artists Against Apartheid night sponsored by Tadamon, where she was on the bill with Ehab Lotayef and members of the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, and the launch for the Vanguard Coalition’s self-published anthology, Pièces de Résistance for Socio-Political Change, which featured spoken word by Stephen Thomas, Ian Ferrier, Jason Milan Ghikadis and Shaughnessy. “I find it really interesting to be part of something that’s bigger than my work,” says Khayat. “You can be inspired by the other artists on the bill with you, and bring in something you can share. That’s really important to me, that art can be used to its full potential.”

Anderson also feels spoken word has much to offer a society in flux. “If we are going to establish new ways to live,” he says, “part of the aesthetic will be created on the street and in events where spoken word performers have brought their work to their public.”