One to Watch

Winnipeg’s small spoken-word scene just got a big boost.
   
Since Jan. 3, the Winnipeg Poetry Slam has been putting on Bang! It’s Poetry! every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pop Soda’s Coffeehouse and Gallery.
   
The series features four different events. The first Tuesday of each month is Speaking Crow, an evening of page poetry hosted by Bruce Symaka and sponsored by the Manitoba Writers’ Guild. Second Tuesdays are Cabaret, an open performance stage which can include everything from poetry and comedy to burlesque and belly dancing. Third Tuesdays are Flex Slam, a themed slam-poetry evening sans the usual competition aspect. Finally, the last Tuesday of every month will feature the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word qualifiers — in other words, competitive slam poetry.
   
"We’re excited about the regularity of it," says Dawn Knight, 34, who directs Winnipeg Poetry Slam along with Aaron Simm.
   
"We used to get moved around (from venue to venue) quite a bit and had difficulty hosting a regular night. Originally, we were only hosting them once a month and that was just competitive slams. We found that didn’t give people enough opportunity; if you wanted to share something you were working on, you were basically thrust into a competition. That doesn’t encourage people to take risks, so we like the fact that this series has open-mic opportunities where people can practice their craft and then decide if they want to try the competitions."
   
Knight — who started slamming two years ago — hopes Bang! It’s Poetry! brings about a spike in the Winnipeg spoken-word scene, which she says is small simply because people have an outdated perception of what poetry is.
   
"I’m a high-school teacher," Knight says. "When you mention the word poetry there’s a cringe in the room because they think of the old-school sonnets — poetry they don’t connect with.
   
"With spoken word, the poets are generally people who are writing not just to write poetry, but to perform it live for an audience. It often involves singing or rapping or political rants, or even sappy love stories. It’s so much more accessible than the page stuff we’re used to.
   
"It’s laymen’s poetry. It could be about politics or a girl you met at Starbucks."
   
New voices are always welcome, she adds.
   
"The first slam I ever competed in I was lucky enough to get second place," Knight says. "That happens a lot to newbies. Just to hear a new voice, people tend to like that. We find that ‘slam virgins’ — that’s what they’re called in our world — they tend to do really well, which is encouraging."
   
In addition to Bang! It’s Poetry!, Mondragon Bookstore & Coffeehouse hosts an open mic every Tuesday at 7 p.m., while the Caravan Open Mic and Open Stage goes down every Monday at 7 pm at FRAME, located at 318 Ross Ave.
   
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