Poets & Performers from 2019

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Adeena Karasick
English

Karasick is a NY-based Canadian performer of "œproto-ecstatic jet-propulsive word torsion" (George Quasha).

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Afua Cooper
English

Afua Cooper "“ Poet Laureate, Halifax.

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Aifric Mac Aodha
English

Irish-language poet and editor Aifric Mac Aodha comes in from Dublin for this reading.

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Alrick Huebener
English

Ottawa musician Alrick Huebener currently plays bass in the acoustic bandHurry Up and Wait.

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Amal El-Mohtar
French

VERSeFest is thrilled to introduce our inaugural Poet-in-Residence, local poet and short fiction author Amal El-Mohtar.

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Andrée Lacelle
French

Andrée Lacelle is the first francophone to be appointed Poet Laureate of Ottawa.

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Annie St-Jean
French

Annie St-Jean is the editor of Slam Outaouais : 10 ans de parole (Renaud-Bray, 2018)

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Anomaly
English

Anomaly is a Montreal musician, poet, and community organizer.

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Armand Garnet Ruffo
English

Armand Garnet Ruffo's Treaty# is from Wolsak and Wynn.

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Billeh Nickerson
English

Billeh Nickerson is the author of five books and a silver medalist at the Canadian Gay Curling Championships.

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Billy-Ray Belcourt
English

The pride of Edmonton, Billy-Ray Belcourt won the Griffin with one of the year's most read books.

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Bob Hogg
English

Retired English professor and organic farmer who now devotes his life to writing.

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Brenda Leifso
English

Leifso's Wild Madder is about way-finding"”through those moments in which you no longer recognize where you are.

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Call Me Katie
English

Call Me Katie is an acoustic trio.

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Cameron Anstee
English

Cameron Anstee's most recent collection is —Sheets: Typewriter Works

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Celena Bedford
English

Celena Bedford writes poetry with themes of feminism and relationships.

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CéZuRe
French

Slam Poet since 2008, CéZuRe quickly discovered a passion for the stage.

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Chloé LaDuchesse
French

Chloé LaDuchesse is the fifth poet laureate of the city of Greater Sudbury.

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Chukky Ibe
English

Chukky Ibe's poetry often comments on politics and the role it plays in shaping the human condition.

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Clara Lagacé
French

Clara Lagacé's first poetry collection En cale sèche (David, 2017) won the Prix Jacques-Poirier at the Salon du livre de l'Outaouais.

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Claudia Coutu Radmore
English

The diverse poetry of Claudia Coutu Radmore has won several national contests.

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Dani Couture
English

Dani Couture received an honour of distinction for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBTQ Writers.

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Daniel Groleau Landry
French

Daniel Groleau Landry was awarded the Trillium Book Award for French Poetry and his latest is Fragments de ciel

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Danielle K.L. Grégoire
English

VERSeFest Hall of Fame Danielle K.L. Grégoire returns.

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David O’Meara
English Local Canada

Ottawa's David O'Meara's newest moving collection is Masses on Radar (Coach House, 2021).

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Deanna Young
English

Deanna Young "“ English Poet Laureate, Ottawa.

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Dennis Lee
English

Poetry for the whole family: Author of beloved Alligator Pie, Dennis Lee offers a delightful experience for all ages.

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Doyali Islam
English

Doyali Islam's hot off the press second collection, heft investigates rupture and resilience.

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Elizabeth Ross
English

It's as if there's a little swinging door inside the poems of Elizabeth Ross.

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Émilie Turmel
French

In Casse-Gueules Émilie Turmel explores the internalized violence of women's bodies and pays tribute to their resilience.

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Eric Charlebois
French Local

Poet, motivational speaker, Éric Charlebois specializes in English-language aboriginal poetry translation.

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Fanny Lachambre
French

A committed humanist, Fanny Lachambre uses words and photographs to communicate her vision of life and all that moves and changes her.

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Gillian Sze
English

Montreal writer Gillian Sze is the author of nine poetry collections.

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Guy Jean
French

A VERSeFest Hall of Famer and awarded Gatineau's Prix Hommage, Guy Jean's poetry is internationally acclaimed.

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Harold Hoefle
English

Harold Hoefle's debut poetry collection is The Night Chorus, ( McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018).

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Herménégilde Chiasson
French

Herménégilde Chiasson is a visual artist, but also a writer, a filmmaker and a playwright.

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Infinite Mind
English

Infinite Mind is an Ottawa-based spoken word poet.

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ísta Fanney Sigurdardóttir
English

ísta Fanney Sigur∂ardóttir is an Icelandic poet and an artist.

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Jack Davis
English

His well-received Faunics is masterly minimalism grounded in nature.

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Jason Heroux
English

Jason Heroux "“ Poet Laureate, Kingston.

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Jean-Marc Desgent
French

Jean-Marc Desgent is widely considered a major figure in contemporary francophone poetry.

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Jean-Philippe Raîche
French Canada

Jean-Philippe Raiche is the Poet Laureate of Moncton. 

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Jenny Haysom
English

Local poet Jenny Haysom presents her first full-length collection of poems, Dividing the Wayside .

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John Barton
English

John Barton is a poet, essayist, editor, and writing mentor.

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José Claer
French

Novelist, short story writer, cultural journalist and slam artist José Claer is, in all genres, first and foremost a poet.

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Julie Huard
French

Author Julie Huard is also a reporter/director, a facilitator, a photographer and a traveler.

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Julie Pellissier-Lush
English

Julie Pellissier-Lush M.S.M "“ Poet Laureate, Prince Edward Island.

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Katharina Schultens
English

Katharina Schultens has four poetry collections and has just won the Poetry Prize Basel

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Klara du Plessis
English

Our finite world is brimming with choices, possibilities, transformations suggests Ekke by du Plessis.

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Le Scap
French

Le Scap is a Canadian battle rapper from Gatineau, Quebec.

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Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
English

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg artist, musician, poet and writer.

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Lenard Moore
English

Haiku master Lenard Moore is a writer, musician, editor, and professor. The Geography of Jazz celebrates musicians.

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Linda Besner
English

Linda Besner's second collection is Feel Happier in Nine Seconds.

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Manahil Bandukwala
English Local Canada

Ottawa poet to watch soar, Manahil Bandukwala explores in Orbital Cultivation.

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Margaret Michèle Cook
French

Margaret Michele Cook is the official French Poet Laureate for Ottawa.

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Marie Darsigny
French

Funny, touching and heart-wrenching, Marie Darsigny's poetry combines nostalgia of spice-tinged Spice Girl and dépanneur wine.

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Mark L. Winston
English

Mark L. Winston received a GG award for his book Bee Time: Lessons From the Hive.

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Marty Gervais
English

Marty Gervais "“ Poet Laureate Emeritus, Windsor.

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Mary Noonan
English

Mary Noonan from Cork gives sonic delights through reflections on what skin remembers.

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Melissa Ouimet
French

A songwriter and composer, Franco-Ontarian rocker Melissa Ouimet is also a poet.

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Michel Côté
French

Michel Côté is a poet and visual artist whose work has won many awards. He has also taught philosophy and Chinese thought.

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Michel Ouellette
French

Michel Ouellette is an author, playwright and poet.

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Mike Montreuil
French

A prevailing voice in tanka, haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun in English and French Canada.

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Monique Manatch
English

Monique Manatch is Executive Director and one of the founders of Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations

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Nicole Brossard
French

Nicole Brossard is an acclaimed Montreal-born poet, novelist and essayist who has won numerous literary awards.

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Noémie Pomerleau-Cloutier
French

Noémie Pomerleau-Cloutier "“ La Poésie Partout, Montréal

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Paul Edward Costa
English

Paul Costa "“ Poet Laureate, Mississauga.

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Paul Savoie
French

Paul Savoie is a writer and translator with more than twenty books in both French and English.

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Phoebe Wang
English

Phoebe Wang is a Canadian writer and educator, author of Admission Requirements.

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Pierre Nepveu
French

Pierre Nepveu wrote The Hardness of Matter and Water , translated by Donald Winkler, (Signal Editions, 2018).

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Pierrette Requier
French

Pierrette Requier "“ Past Poet Laureate, Edmonton.

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Poetiquette
English Local Canada

Poetiquette explores the bleeding edge of hearts.

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Rachel McCrum
English

Rachel McCrum "“ La Poésie Partout, Montréal

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Rebecca Pāpucaru
English

The Panic Room by Rebecca Pāpucaru won The Canadian Jewish Literary Awards 2018.

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Ren Iwamoto
English

Ren Iwamoto is a humble goblin trying to find meaning amongst the chaos.

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Renée Sarojini Saklikar
English

Renée Sarojini Saklikar's latest book is a B.C. bestseller: Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018).

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Rhube Knox
English

Rhube Knox strives to leave her audience seen, trusted, and sometimes healed, but never broken.

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Richard Harrison
English

In Richard Harrison's Governor General's Award-winning poetry, elegy and love poem become one.

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Rob Taylor
English

Vancouver poet and author Rob Taylor edited What the Poets Are Doing: Canadian Poets in Conversation.

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Sam Taskie
English

Writing led Sam Taskie towards a poetry community that he calls home.

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Sennah Yee
English

Sennah Yee's raw, down-to-earth honesty delights; hers is an important voice.

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Shawn K
English

Shawn K went to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word with a poem called Gratitude.

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Shery Alexander Heinis
English Local

Rising iterary star Shery Alexander Heinis is the author of Splinter.

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Stefan Psenak
French

Longtemps j'ai porté mes deuils comme des habits trop grands marks the return of Stefan Psenak to poetry.

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stephanie roberts
English

stephanie roberts dreams of a compassion-based society and wrote rushes from the river disappointment

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t'ai freedom ford
English

t'ai freedom ford uses language both evocatively rich and colloquially sharp and sly

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Tanya Evanson
English

Tanya Evanson is an inspirational Antiguan-Canadian poet, performer, producer and arts educator.

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Tess Liem
English

Tess Liem contends with the difficult practice of obituaries in her debut collection Obits .

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Ursula Andkjær Olsen
English

Major Danish poet Ursula Andkjær Olsen's poems push back against injustice in a fractal asymmetry.

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Vanessa Rotondo aka V
English

Vanessa Rotondo merges science with art and words to facilitate expression.

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Victoria Butler
English

Victoria Butler - Youth Poet Laureate, Barrie

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