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Talk of the
town
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Voices of the Americas showcases Montreal’s spoken word artists
by VINCENT TINGUELY
 It’s a
busy week for the Voices of the Americas Festival, the brainchild of
publisher and performer André Lemelin. A tireless organizer of
spoken word events, Lemelin’s responsible for the annual gala Planète
rebelle literary cabarets at Lion d’Or, and Les Dimanches du conte,
a weekly series which he started with Jean-Marc Massie in 1998 to promote
both traditional and contemporary forms of storytelling. His vision
embraces both English- and French-language versions of literary performance.
“I think this is a really important event because of the way it
will introduce people from the different spoken word scenes in Montreal
to one another,” enthuses longtime spoken word performer and theorist
Corey Frost. “It’ll be a way of solidifying Montreal’s
reputation as a spoken word city.”
La Vache enragée founder and host Mitsiko Miller is impressed
with the festival’s diversity. “It’s a bit of everything.
I like that. I like the idea that there are open mics.”
Frost agrees: “You’ve got storytelling, the slam scene, multimedia
performance and theatre all recognized as being part of spoken word
performance… It’s reassuring, having your niche recognized.”
On Friday, Frost is part of a roundtable discussion, with Yannick B.
Gélinas, Jhave and Victoria Stanton, on the role of language
and performance as mediated by technology. He’s also featured in
that night’s cabaret, as one of the “multimedia” performers.
“I’ve always felt uncomfortable being labelled a spoken word
artist, because I fear I might be expected to do a slam poem. If there
are festivals like this where any genre is welcome, I can branch out
further into incorporating slides and music and whatever multimedia
elements I want without being ostracized.”
The roundtable starts at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) at 2:30 p.m.
and admission is free. Also on Friday is a cabaret at La Sala Rossa
(4848 St-Laurent), featuring straight-up spoken word with the affable
Jake Brown, ferocious stand-up poetry courtesy of Fortner Anderson,
and lyric musings by Mary Elizabeth Grace. There’ll be a multimedia
performance incorporating video by Victoria Stanton, and the last set
features words and music expertly delivered by Catherine Kidd and Jack
Beets, and Ian Ferrier with Bryan Highbloom. The show starts at 8 p.m.
and costs $7. The same day also features an open mic poetry slam hosted
by the always energetic Johnny “Yoga Boy” Cheesecake and the
raunchy Bob Loblaw. It’s at the Sergent-Recruteur (4650 St-Laurent),
and sign-up’s at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free and there’s a
$50 prize!
Sunday’s closing gala cabaret promises to be a rollicking affair
in the spirit of La Vache enragée. “That’s really cool,”
says Miller. “I’ve hosted a few shows in the last couple of
years, but nothing in the spirit of La Vache. Nothing caustic [laughs]!
I’ll be a little more goofy and myself and just comfortable.”
The bilingual line-up includes glam slamster Alexis O’Hara, human
beatboxer The Quadraceptor, red hot dub poet nah-ee-lah, and the effervescent
anarchy of Norman Nawrocki. At La Sala Rosa, 8 p.m., $7. :
Voices of
the Americas runs through March 3. For more info, check out www.fva.ca
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