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Things are heating up in 2026…

Which is good because it’s FREEZING outside here in Winnipeg where it’s literally COLDER THAN ANTARCTICA!

First, on February 2nd, I’m looking forward to kicking off International Development Week 2026 with the participants of MCIC’s Voices for Change Project. Tobi, Ali, and Sami will be on stage at The Manitoba Legislative Building performing their poem, “What We’re Meant to Be” for the first time in front of a live audience! The piece centres on survivors of armed conflict in familiar key world settings, including here in Canada where refugees challenge and define the meaning of freedom. That same day on MCIC’s YouTube channel, the poem will debut in video form which was recorded at The Graffiti Gallery back in November, and featured the installation, “Red Wash Stand” presented by Pukatawagan Cree activist, writer, and rad moustache rockin’ Clayton Thomas-Müller.

Next, on February 11 at The Handsome Daughter, I’ll be recording a live set of poems I’ve collectively locked in as a statement of my growth as an artist and a person since first engaging with spoken word poetry in the early 2010’s. Topics like mental health, Truth and Reconciliation, and existentialism and absurdity are filtered through personal experiences encompassing conflict, struggle, self-healing and empowerment, and confronting “the darkness” in my psyche and Canadian history to emerge older, wiser, braver, and more at peace with myself (relatively speaking). I’m putting this stamp on my art before I tackle the next creative phase exploring humanity with complexity, nuance, and always, humour and heart as much as possible.

The evening also features special guests Jules and IDIC Verse, and an open mic to kick things off at 7pm. Doors/sign up’s at 6, and admission is $10 in person or online here (with processing fees).

Partnering with Poetry in Voice, I’ve got a few classroom workshops including my first virtual visit to a grade 8 class in Calgary. In March, I’m looking forward to the launch of the Story Connections podcast interview I did with Kahanee‘s founder and fellow poet, Somia Sadiq. Among the laughs and meaningful moments touching on some very human emotions, we discussed the inspiration behind Birds of a Feather, the empowering potential of being witnessed and my role as Director in building community at The Winnipeg Poetry Slam, and just what the heck we’re doing here as artists and storytellers. Stay tuned for that, as well as a live event on March 25th at Kahanee’s HQ in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. In 2026, they’re running a storytelling campaign exploring the theme of belonging and this one focuses on poetry in particular. I’ll be sharing a couple topical pieces and facilitating a short workshop to ground attendees in their own lived experience as the source of power for their own stories to be told!

Also in March, I’ll be making an appearane le 2ème festival de slam en français au Manitoba. Back in September, some of us ‘anglos’ from the Winnipeg Poetry Slam joined our francophone counterparts in Plume Winnipeg‘s mobile installation at Nuit Blanche, slamming ‘au plein air.’ It was a great time making friends with Seream and the crew, and I look forward to seeing them all again!

I’ll call that a pretty productive first quarter to 2026, with more creative adventures on the way…though I’ll have to be patient for the one in particular I’m most excited for, which maaaaay have something to do with the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture’s Writer-in-Residence program. Stay tuned to find out more about that closer to the 2027 Winter Term 😉

Youth Poets Fight for Home

Coming up on May 27, 2025, I’m excited to welcome the youth poets of the 2025 Voices for Change program to the stage at The Handsome Daughter to share their poem, FIGHT FOR HOME with the Winnipeg Poetry Slam community.

Back in the fall, I stepped into my role as facilitator for the 10th time (!) to work with high school students to create a poem which would be professionally filmed, then later launched online and performed live for an audience at the Legislature as part of International Development Week. This year’s project was significant, however, as the topic of displacement carried a particular weight for the participants who each carried their own lived experience.

In a special partnership between the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation and the Resilia Community Wellness Centre (formerly Aurora Family Therapy Centre), I met Indigenous students Merek and Linnaya, as well as Ali and Tetiana, who were refugees from Syria and Ukraine, respectively. The group were a part of a youth leadership program at the wellness centre, and each certainly had something to say on belonging and security, whether within Canada, or from abroad.

Considering how Merek and Linnaya are both preparing to graduate into our society and inherit the living history of colonialism impacting all treaty relations, and how Tetiana and Ali had experience with displacement caused by violence in their home countries with literal physical and emotional scars to show for it, I definitely grew in my capacity to support others in expressing themselves. With extra guidance from MCIC’s education specialist and Resilia’s youth program facilitator, we navigated difficult subjects and emotions, and created what was clearly the realest poem to ever come of this program.

With that being the case, I’m proud of our work and must acknowledge the courage that everyone showed in stepping up to share these truths which so tragically affect the young and innocent. But also, the resilience, hope, and grace they carry towards the future.

Before you come see them in person, check out the video!

Let’s flock together

In the fall of 2024, Adam Pagtakhan of Midnight Sun Creative and I met on the street outside my apartment. As we gazed into an open cardboard box in the trunk of his car with a giddy fulfilment, we couldn’t anticipate the overwhelmingly positive response we would receive for our collaboration. Instantly dismissing the fact that our respective bank accounts had been drained to cover the cost of printing, we were too busy high-fiving and signing each others’ copies of our book to care. Real physical copies! In our hands!

That was the day that Birds of a Feather: A Graphic Poem arrived. It was a project that we initiated during the pandemic lockdown, after some time discussing a collaboration. We’ve been friends since high school; hopeless nerds, deep thinkers and feelers, who have supported each other as we’ve developed our respective crafts and then took the plunge into building careers as professional artists…with day jobs.

It started as something to do for fun, to see what would come of Adam’s visual interpretations of a poem I shared, and which he chose as having provocative imagery and a powerful message of finding empowerment through communing with others who share mental health struggles. We chose the format of a graphic narrative, a.k.a. a comic book, as something we were both familiar with, and something I’d dreamed about creating since I sketched superheroes in art class.

Adam was already a talented graphic designer, finding consistent work designing posters, logos, shirts: you name it. But his initial drafts revealed so much depth that resonated with the material, fulfilling the potential of graphic narratives to transcend mainstream comic strip forms to engage with readers on a truly meaningful level. What we were creating wasn’t quite a comic book, or a picture book with poetic text, but kind of…both, which also leaned into dreamlike cinematic imagery. Taking some literal cues from lines in the poem, he formed a visual meta-narrative of a wounded bird on a journey through dangerous terrain, encountering monsters and pitfalls as metaphors for trauma recovery. Meanwhile, in our little protagonist, he captured expressions and personality that I could instantly connect with as a reader.

When I was invited to perform at Plume Winnipeg‘s Afterwords event, I made sure to bring a few copies to sell, along with Adam himself to acknowledge his contribution from the mic. It was our unofficial launch; we’d only just started posting about it on our social media channels. And even though I hadn’t shared the poem on stage in years, the experience of having bonded with Adam through the material inspired and empowered me to give a meaningful performance. It did seem to resonate with the audience, who immediately snatched up all the copies we had, with someone telling us we should have brought more! On top of that, Adam and I were hounded for autographs, which, despite being touching and humbling, was just unheard of for a couple of self-published creators.

Since then, we’ve connected the graphic poem to readers across the country, built somewhat of an audience here at an ‘official’ launch featuring other spoken word poets and their respective chapbooks, and found support with local shops who agreed to carry it on their shelves. This included a comic book shop, which was like a surreal dream come true! Recently, I shared the poem and discussed the project with a poetry class facilitated by fellow poet, Heidi Sander, in Cambridge, Ontario.

As I shared in the afterword, the way Adam’s art responded to mine and connected us as emotional beings inspired me to see the book as more than just that. It was the reason I chose to include a list of mental health resources (based in Canada), so the book could be used as a tool to connect and heal those who struggle with their own illnesses and existential crises. So far, with the way we’ve connected with readers, we’ve proven to ourselves that we did make something special and meaningful. We’ve also proven that though people may struggle alone, we’re much stronger together. Especially when we create community through art!

To grab your own copy in Winnipeg, visit 204 Comics or House of Local where you can also get a copy shipped from their digital store at the link.

Let’s catch up…

Well, it’s been a heck of a long time since I’ve been active on my website. Back in 2019 – was it really 5 years ago??? – I took a big step away from writing poetry and being active in Winnipeg’s literary community to work towards personal and financial stability. I needed to make some shifts in career goals and find ways to balance my time and energy to make working a ‘day job’ fit alongside a creative lifestyle.

Then the pandemic happened!

Which was terrible for many reasons.

But it also offered me a blessing in time and space to work on, and finish, quite an ambitious mature YA novel project. In 2021, I was fortunate to be accepted in The Sage Hill Writing Experience‘s Summer Fiction Program where I received overwhelming encouragement from the group facilitator and amazing award-winning writer, Yasuko Thanh. Since then, I’ve completed a couple revisions of the manuscript based on input from some active readers, and have sent a few submissions out to publishing houses in Canada. Fingers crossed as I wait for their replies, and I hope to share more info about the project sometime soon!

Connected at a distance: organizers, faculty, and participants of the 2021 Sage Hill Program!

As you’d probably guess, with it being based in live events, the spoken word/poetry slam community all but shut down during the pandemic. Still, there were a few pockets of activity, such as with The Winnipeg Fringe Festival’s Winter Series co-production, SLAMDEMIC! Live streamed via YouTube, viewers participated as judges to choose the competition winner. The ‘Fringe brought us back that summer for another slam competition during their Play On Digital Festival, too! I took part in both events as co-producer and performer, pulling out some new material that I managed to put to paper at the time.

Another program that adapted to a digital format was Manitoba Council for International Cooperation’s (MCIC) Voices for Change youth spoken word project. Having facilitated the creative aspect of the program many times before, MCIC reached out to me to return during a lengthy period of isolation. It was a welcome opportunity to connect with youth poets and mentor them through developing new work that speaks to global sustainability issues they care about – especially those that touch close to home here in Winnipeg on Treaty One Territory.

I’m happy to be invited back for what is my TENTH round of facilitating this project with MCIC. Each year is a new adventure in creativity, resulting in empowering art that is shared on video and live on stage at the Winnipeg Legislature during International Development Week in April. Applications are open now for youth to take part. Check out the embedded link above for info on how to apply, and all the fantastic pieces that youth have produced in the past decade-plus!

I’m excited to say that I’ve started to come out of my shell and write poetry again! This is largely due to the fact that my pal and former mentee, Kortnee Stevens, and I have partnered up to re-establish the Winnipeg Poetry Slam to reinvigorate spoken word in the community. Since running the first few open mics at the Good Will Social Club (RIP!) in October 2023, we’ve relocated to The Handsome Daughter where the poets – and audiences – have begun to show up in droves! Thanks in part to our savvy Social Media Coordinator Jules Stevenson, another former mentee, sign-up sheets have been filling up in minutes, and it’s been standing-room only! We’re seeing so many new faces and hearing such incredible work that Plume Winnipeg (formerly Thin Air: The Winnipeg International Writers Festival) took notice and asked us to take part in their festival for TWO separate events!

We’ve been so inspired by how the community has grown in the past year that we’ve applied for funding from the Manitoba Arts Council. We hope expand our programming towards showcasing amazing feature poets and to running workshops for participants to develop their craft both on page and stage. Stay tuned for what we’re cooking up – and in the meantime, find us at The Handsome Daughter on the last Tuesday of each month!

Photo credit: Anthony Mark Schellenberg — Photo Credit: Anthony Mark Schellenberg

Producing slam events has reinvigorated something in me since my pre-pandemic falling out with Winnipeg’s poetry community. I’ve a sense of purpose and a place where it’s realized in a variety of ways. I’m happy to be working with two former mentees who I get to see thriving on stage and in their efforts as community leaders. I’m honored that even more former students and mentees have come out to be a part of what we’re building, and are crushing it as the next generation of spoken word poets making names for themselves in the arts community. At Plume Winnipeg’s Afterwords event where she invited me to be a featured reader, my own former mentor and festival director Charlene Diehl said to me in an embrace, “I’m happy you’ve found your way back.” It was humbling because not only did she touch on that profound absence, but the substantial being in and of that moment and every moment -writing at my computer, rehearsing in my apartment, performing on stage, sitting in meetings with my team at the coffee shop, watching the slam from the crowd – all of it, which tells me this is what I’m supposed to be doing, like I’m fulfilling some kind of destiny.

Which is why it brings me so much hope and joy to share the release of my graphic poem project with my old friend, artist and graphic designer Adam Pagtakhan a.k.a. Midnight Sun Creative. Birds of a Feather is one of my most treasured poems, from which Adam drew inspiration to illustrate a heartfelt narrative of trauma and recovery. Producing and releasing this graphic poem was a deeply meaningful act in collaborating as friends and creative people, and in sharing a message of support for those struggling with mental health. Already a talented graphic designer, Adam leveled-up his artistic ability with the images he portrayed with emotion, detail, and brilliant colour – you have to see it for yourself! The project was unofficially launched at the previously mentioned Plume Winnipeg Afterwords event, where copies at the book table sold out in minutes! Since then, the response has been heartwarming as we’ve sent copies to friends across the country. We look forward to sharing it with the costumed crowds at Winnipeg Comic Con (Oct 25-27), and an official launch event featuring a showcase of poets as well as an open mic (details coming soon!).

If you’d like to grab Birds of a Feather: A Graphic Poem, hit Adam up at his Midnight Sun table at Comic Con, or reach out to me via my Contact Page or message me on Instagram. You can also find copies for sale at 204 Comics in St. Vital!

Yup, I think it’s official: I’m back. Feels good to be here, guys. Feels real good.

Youth Writers Rise!

Last night in the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library, my youth writing group from Creative Manitoba’s Careers in the Arts program celebrated the launch of A Rebellion of Sorts, their own anthology of creative writing!

After a process of giving feedback to submitted material and helping the students to polish up their work, then working with the fine folks at McNally Robinson Booksellers (thank you Dana!) to design the book, the youth finally got to hold a copy of the anthology in their hands: an honest-to-goodness publication that counts on any writing portfolio!

What’s more, the anthology will be placed into circulation at the Millennium and Henderson branches of Winnipeg Public Library!

The launch was also a culmination of 4 months of bi-weekly sessions where we explored all things literary, and featured many guest writers from the community, including Stephen Sim, Keith Cadieux, Jordan Wheeler, Ariel Gordon, and Beth Murch!

Thank you to Jan Skene who brought me back for my third round as group facilitator, The Millennium Library for hosting us, Ciarra O’Reggio for designing the anthology cover, and for the students who continue to inspire me – I can’t wait to see what they do next, and where their writing takes them!

The Drift: Purple City

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I’m excited to share Purple City, a video poem celebrating a love-hate relationship with Winnipeg, my hometown in Treaty One Territory.

Filmed in the summer of 2018 by Andrew and Sam of Ice River Films, it’s one of four pieces that comprise “The Drift”: a spoken word-video project in collaboration with local poets including myself, Rob Malo, and Duncan Mercredi.

In the video, you’ll get to see a guest appearance by my pal Rob, and for internet points, my cat Chowder.

Content warning: cannabis use.

Growing a Poetry Community in Selkirk!

Even before we teamed up as a mentorship pair through Creative Manitoba’s Careers in the Arts Program, hometown artist extraordinaire Julie Stevenson and I have been working to establish a poetry community in Selkirk, Manitoba. Beginning with the Holiday Alley Winter Festival Poetry Slam and continuing with the Selkirk Poetry Slam, I’ll be facilitating a FREE workshop in town to offer space to those looking to build experience and confidence in writing and sharing poetry!

Following the workshop, folks will be encouraged to join us for the next Selkirk Poetry Slam event at the Mighty Kiwi, and share what they’ve created! Details below:

THE SELKIRK POETRY SLAM PRESENTS:

OFF THE PAGE:

A poetry writing and performance workshop for all experience levels!

With guidance from award-winning spoken word poet Steve Locke, step safely outside of your comfort zone to build confidence in expressing your creative voice!

Sunday, April 28

2:00-5:00pm

Robert Jefferson Heritage Room

Gaynor Family Regional Library

806 Manitoba Ave.

FREE!

Meet other local poets in the community!

Learn and practice skills to connect with others through art!

Create new work to share at the next Selkirk Poetry Slam at the Mighty Kiwi!

For more info: selkirkpoetryslam@gmail.com

National Poetry Month!

NPM 2019 Mike Deal

In celebration of Canada’s National Poetry Month, editors Ariel Gordon and John Toews have curated a FULL SECTION OF POETRY in the Winnipeg Free Press. It’s the 4th such edition, this time focusing on the topic of nature. I’m excited to have been included in this edition, with a short piece on aurora borealis!

Check out the poem here, along with more from some wonderful Winnipeg poets!

Special thanks to Ariel and John, as well as photographer Mike Deal for the funky shot double-exposed with flora!

What’s New?

Here’s a brief recap of some recent projects. It’s been such a pleasure to take part in some of the most meaningful work of my career to date!

First, as a continuation from the previous blog post:

The Holiday Alley Poetry Slam was a success! After a 2-week residency at East Selkirk Middle School (sponsored by the Manitoba Arts Council’s Artists in the Schools program) a few students joined me to help spoken word make a splash in Selkirk!

The Holiday Alley film crew put together this video highlighting some of the great work the youth performed on stage.

So much has come from this residency, including Jules Stevenson, who has joined me in Creative Manitoba’s Rural Mentorship Program. She was instrumental in bringing spoken word to Selkirk via Holiday Alley, as you will see on our appearance on Global TV Morning News. I’m helping her to build a spoken word community in Selkirk where writers of all ages can have the transformative experience of sharing their truth on stage. The first ever Selkirk Poetry Slam hit the ground running in late February! The next edition is coming up soon….

Also hearkening back to a previous post, the youth poets who took part in the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation’s Voices For Change project did an absolutely fantastic job with their piece, “What We Teach”! The live performance was stunning, and the video recording of the poem garnered lots of positive attention across the country during International Development Week!

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The wonderful poets Jay, Urooba and Sophia each represented themselves well on stage, in video, as well as in the media!

Beginning in January 2019, THIN AIR: The Winnipeg International Writers Festival took over duties in running Winnipeg’s longest-running poetry reading series, Speaking Crow. Stepping into the role of host/admin, I’ve had the pleasure of hearing new work by many local poets of all experience levels. ‘Crow’ is where the poetry community gets to see and hear itself, and in the early stages of my career, it was instrumental in me building the confidence to share my work.

The next session of Speaking Crow takes place Tuesday April 2nd, with featured reader Lauren Carter!

Also coming up very soon is a First Fridays event that I am very excited about!

This one definitely feels like a culmination of my years working with youth, as I’ll be hosting a showcase of poetry and spoken word featuring current and past members of Creative Manitoba’s mentorship programs.

I can’t wait for the audience to see what these youth can do!

Finally, I’ve been honoured to be involved with Poetry in Voice, a charitable organization that encourages Canadian students to fall in love with poetry. I’m lucky to have been included in their Poet Network, where teachers have sought me out to visit their school and build spoken word skills.

They come in handy, especially with regards to PiV’s recitation competitions taking place in high schools all across Canada. In March, I was on a panel of judges that selected Kildonan East Collegiate to qualify for nationals, this year taking place right here in Winnipeg!

Coming up in April at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, students from across the country will be gathering to represent their choice poems, mind, body and soul!

Whew!

Time for a bit of a break to work on some projects…but so many thanks go out to the organizations and individuals I’ve worked with, and who have given me the opportunity for so much growth!

Youth Projects and Holiday Festival News!

November has been a busy month of residencies and youth projects! First, I spent a fair bit of time with early-years students in Winnipeg’s St. James School Division working on poetry that explored peace literacy and community values. It’s been a trip, developing lesson plans for students in grades as early as kindergarten, and looking at my CV now, I can accurately say that I can effectively teach spoken word to all ages! It can be done!

Then over two weekends, I returned for a fourth term as the facilitator for Manitoba Council for International Cooperation’s Voices for Change spoken word project. We tackled the topic of gender equality on an international level, and the young trio of poets have come up with a wonderful, visceral piece that will be released on YouTube just before they hit the stage at the Legislature during International Development Week. I’m very proud of their work, and believe that it’s the finest piece to come out of that project yet! I can’t wait to share it with you.

Finally, I’ve been in residency at East Selkirk Middle School building community and safe space – all in preparation for the students to take part in a spoken word showcase at the 2nd annual Holiday Alley winter festival! Thanks to the Manitoba Arts Council’s Artists in the School program, I’ve been able to draw some impressive stories and images from these young poets, while building their confidence as performers and public speakers. There are still a few bundles of nerves to unravel, but I believe that by the end of next week, students will be ready to step up and be visible to their community, and have their voices heard.

We’ll be taking over the High Tea tent on Saturday, December 1st at 5:30pm-ish. I’ll be grabbing as many ESMS students as I can and inviting them on stage to share work from our workshops together. Then, a cadre of teenaged poets will take over for some short sets, all headlined by my future apprentice and Insta-Poetry star, Julie Stevenson. Finally, we’ll top off the showcase with feature sets by myself and reigning SLAM! champion, Tiana Northage!

I recently spoke with Global TV about the event. You can also catch a clip of one of Julie’s poems!

I’m hoping the showcase makes a splash in Selkirk, and that a buzz for spoken word continues in the community. Julie and I have applied to Creative Manitoba’s Rural Mentorship program. It will be our goal to use that buzz to build future events where youth can share their art, maybe even going so far as to develop a spoken word community in town!