Literature Live Around the World: Speaking Poetry from the Ashes

Kelisha Daley, Shahaddah Jack, Martin Gomes and Desiree Mckenzie  

Literature Live Around the World: Speaking Poetry from the Ashes

Kelisha Daley, Shahaddah Jack, Martin Gomes and Desiree Mckenzie  

1:40pm

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Three rising star Canadian artists, Kelisha Daley, Shahaddah Jack and Martin Gomes, speak poetry to power in this raw and inspiring spoken word presentation, hosted live by Desiree Mckenzie. Performers are mentees of the JAYU iAM Programme: a youth-led arts and social justice mentorship for equity-seeking youth in Canada aged 12–26. Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning performer and arts educator, who in 2019, earned the title of Canadian Festival of Spoken Word National Champion. Presented in partnership with JAYU and Kuumba: Toronto’s largest Black Futures Month celebration (supported by TD Ready Commitment and the Government of Canada).

Speaking Poetry from the Ashes
February 5, 2021 at 1:40pm ET
Virtual Event

This event will be presented as part of the Bergen International Literary Festival, a five-day festival that celebrates international and Norwegian fiction and non-fiction beginning on February 9, 2022. It will be showcased during Literature Live Around the World, a collaboration project composed of 11 festivals and literature centres from every continent, who have joined forces to provide the second edition of this unique literary programme. Mona B Riise and Britta B. will lead the marathon multinational venture from Bergen on Saturday, February 5, 2022. Speaking Poetry from the Ashes is a 30-minute feature presentation of this broadcast that starts at 1:40pm (ET). It can be viewed for free right here on FestivalofAuthors.ca.

            JAYU Logo         Kuumba logo    TD The Ready Commitment logo      Canadian Heritage Canada Wordmark logo

Performance

Three rising star Canadian artists, Kelisha Daley, Shahaddah Jack and Martin Gomes, speak poetry to power in this raw and inspiring spoken word presentation, hosted live by Desiree Mckenzie. Performers are mentees of the JAYU iAM Programme: a youth-led arts and social justice mentorship for equity-seeking youth in Canada aged 12–26. Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning performer and arts educator, who in 2019, earned the title of Canadian Festival of Spoken Word National Champion. Presented in partnership with JAYU and Kuumba: Toronto’s largest Black Futures Month celebration (supported by TD Ready Commitment and the Government of Canada).

Speaking Poetry from the Ashes
February 5, 2021 at 1:40pm ET
Virtual Event

This event will be presented as part of the Bergen International Literary Festival, a five-day festival that celebrates international and Norwegian fiction and non-fiction beginning on February 9, 2022. It will be showcased during Literature Live Around the World, a collaboration project composed of 11 festivals and literature centres from every continent, who have joined forces to provide the second edition of this unique literary programme. Mona B Riise and Britta B. will lead the marathon multinational venture from Bergen on Saturday, February 5, 2022. Speaking Poetry from the Ashes is a 30-minute feature presentation of this broadcast that starts at 1:40pm (ET). It can be viewed for free right here on FestivalofAuthors.ca.

            JAYU Logo         Kuumba logo    TD The Ready Commitment logo      Canadian Heritage Canada Wordmark logo

Performance

Featured Authors

Kelisha Daley
A poet by any other name should be called Kelisha Daley, who is adamant that life is romantic, even in its mundane-ness. At the age of 26, Kelisha is an emerging multidisciplinary artist: actor, writer, designer and poet. Kelisha graduated Humber College in 2020 where she received three years of theatrical training in performative arts. Her film projects include The Bliss of Falling, produced with The And, Stages Company in 2020; self-produced film Where There Is Room to Bloom; The Promotion (directed by Mike Regis) and Mismatch (directed by Tasha Gray) as an actor; and her upcoming self-produced project, to mad women everywhere, as part of FILM POV’s 2021 en/Vision Lab.

Read more about Kelisha Daley

Shahaddah Jack
Born and raised in Tkaronto with a diverse cultural background that grounds her in her poetry and life is Shahaddah Jack. The 17-year-old bilingual spoken word poet, performer, emcee, human rights activist, arts facilitator and student of life takes a poetic stance on human rights and social justice in her work. Her poetry speaks to the lived black experience, the intersectionality of womanhood and the adversity of adolescence. Shahaddah has performed on many stages including TIFF Bell Lightbox, Meridian Hall and Toronto Centre for the Arts. As a mentor, she has facilitated poetry, human rights and artist mentoring workshops with organizations like BGC, Guelph University and JAYU. You can follow her on Instagram @shahaddahjack or her website shahaddahjack.com

Read more about Shahaddah Jack

Martin Gomes
Martin Gomes recently obtained a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts at York University where he studied music. Ringleader of his Band “JuiceBox” with whom he won the TIFF: Battle of the Scores competition in 2020. Beatboxer, musician, chorister, model, writer and poet, he got hella characteristics to choose from. His goal is to develop a space where him and his homies can survive, thrive and live their lives at their pace.

Read more about Martin Gomes

Desiree Mckenzie  
Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet, arts educator, national poetry slam champion and voice actor from Toronto. Her poetry and voice have been featured in works for CBC’s Poetic License series, When Sisters Speak, Clearco Financial, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and Home Depot. She facilitates a range of community poetry programming for organizations like JAYU, VIBE Arts, Unity Charity, Poetry in Voice, and Shakespeare in Action. Her debut spoken word EP, Wet Hair, is now available on streaming platforms. In December 2022, she opened for Rupi Kaur on her world tour stop at Massey Hall.

Read more about Desiree Mckenzie  

1:40pm

Saturday, February 5

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