2014 Poets of Honour: Ikenna OpenSecret Onyegbula; Moe Clark; Zaccheus Jackson. IKENNA OPENSECRET ONYEGBULA Few poets take the stage with the authority and grace of OpenSecret. Having won his first of four national poetry slam titles on the stage at Alix Goolden Hall with Capital Slam during CFSW 2009, it seemed fitting that he returned to that same stage during CFSW 2014 to be recognized as a Poet of Honour. As a member of Capital Slam teams, OpenSecret won titles in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 and 2013, he was crowned the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam champion, which led to him representing Canada at the World Cup of Poetry in Paris both in 2012 and 2014. Both times he represented us well, finishing fourth in 2012 and taking the title of World Cup champion in 2014. That 2009 Capital Slam team formed a troupe known as The Recipe. As a member of The Recipe, OpenSecret opened for K-OS and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, as well as performing alongside spoken word luminaries such as Shihan, Amir Sulaiman, Black Ice, and 2-time Grammy award winners Arrested Development. While his work onstage has garnered acclaim across Canada, at festivals such as Verses Festival, VERSeFest, and Calgary Spoken Word Festival, OpenSecrets poetry has also been published, being featured in The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry. Few poets in the country demonstrate more passion for working with and developing Canadian youth poets. OpenSecret has played an influential role, as an educator and as a performer, in the early development of Hullabaloo, a high school poetry slam tournament in British Columbia. Even more importantly, he founded and directs YouthCanSlam, Canadas only national poetry slam competition specifically for youth. Such is the esteem in which OpenSecret is held by the national community, in 2014 he was named the National Director of Spoken Word Canada. MOE CLARK Multidisciplinary Métis artist, looping pedal mistress, spoken word poet, educator, artistic producer, public speaker, activist. Moe Clark plays many roles in the national spoken word community, and has had a far-ranging impact on both the form and its practice. Whether through her innovative and spell-binding combinations of looping pedal and poetry, her work as a facilitator in schools and communities across the country, or her work as an organizer and producer of poetry events and programs, she has stretched boundaries and created more space for poetic expression of all kinds. Her work, as both an artist and an educator, has engaged youth, connected generations, and crossed cultural boundaries. Moe has toured both nationally and internationally, standing among the busiest and most sought after Canadian spoken word artists. Whether she has performed solo, or in collaborations such as Ravensara or Bird Messengers, Moes work has consistently challenged the notion of what spoken word can be and do. In 2013, she took on the role of Artistic Director for the 10th Annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, bringing the festival to Montreal. Under Moes direction, CFSW 2013 took shape as the first ever fully bilingual version of the festival. In this role, she helped spearhead the creation of an anthology of spoken word poets from across Canada, whose work was translated into both French and English. Beyond bilingualism, to honour the first languages that began the oral tradition in Canada, she made indigenous languages a focus of the festival. Her work is published in various anthologies, a bilingual book of poetry and two cds. Most recently, she released her second album, Within, which can be found and purchased at moeclark.ca/listen. ZACCHEUS JACKSON The national spoken word community, and many connected to it, were saddened and shock in August this year to lose one of the great voices of our time: Zaccheus Jackson. As such, a third Poet of Honour was added for 2014, with a posthumous recognition of the enormity of Zaccheus impact. A member of six Vancouver Poetry Slam teams, Zaccheus twice won the titles of Vancouver Individual Slam Champion and Vancouver Grand Slam Champion, and tied for third place at the inaugural Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. While his work on stage earned the respect of his artistic peers, his presence and his work in other areas provided both inspiration and empowerment to both poets and non-poets alike. Perhaps most importantly, Zaccheus has been widely recognized as one of Canadas best arts educators. He worked with many groups, in many settings, but perhaps his greatest passion was working with youth - work to which he applied himself with all of the enormous energy for which he was known. In the course of over 9 years as a workshop facilitator, Zaccheus touched countless lives, and his impact on youth across the country from all walks of life cannot be overstated. Not only did he educate and earn the admiration of the youth with whom he worked, but he taught and transformed the poets with whom he went into classrooms. With respect and with love, our national community gave recognition to this giant of Canadian spoken word. Click the link to watch the full tribute to Zaccheus and both Moe and OpenSecrets performances.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 17:00:16 +0000
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