. CFSW 2006 . Toronto . October 11-14 .

LATEST NEWS

SEPT 28: Only two weeks away! The Festival is as tight as can be, with some recent good news: We’ve booked a performance time at a downtown Indigo-Chapters for Oct. 14, at 5pm (after the Guerilla Performance). Don’t know if those bookish types are ready for our spoken word throwdown.

Also, billeting is under way for the participants, so if you are in desperate need of accommodation, get a hold of us through the CONTACT page right away. More updates soon!

SEPT 7: The day programming is confirmed, the nightly bouts are scheduled and all the venues have been booked. The CFSW team here in Toronto is gearing up for a huge amount of public interest, in light of the popularity of both the Toronto Poetry Slam and the Up From the Roots events. We’re optimistic, too, that Poets of Honour Lillian Allen and Shane Koyczan will also draw a big crowd – after all, last time Shane was here he opened for The Violent Femmes at Massey Hall!

8 JULY: Planning for the 2006 festival is well underway! Watch these pages for new developments, programming, and more info soon!

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The CFSW is a festival of Spoken Word and Poetry that hosts artists from across Canada and international guests to celebrate and promote Spoken Word performance, to expand and cultivate the audience for this work, and to inspire networking between artists and organizers from various regions of Canada in order to foster a growing and interdependent national community of Spoken Word artists.

In 2004, the Festival Began as the Canadian Spoken Wordlympics. It was held in Ottawa in October 2004 with great success, over 60 artists and hundreds of audience members saw history made with international performance poets, performers from across Canada, a national poetry slam, and the development of a new network of spoken word artists and organizers. Emerging from this community were the organizers of the renamed Canadian Festival of Spoken Word 2005, in Vancouver. The festival expanded and broadened in the diversity of performers and styles.

This year's festival in Toronto will build on those successes. Please join us.

CFSW PAST PERFORMERS

Barbara Adler; shayne aeichele (a/k/a shayne avec i grec); John Akpata; Jerry Alexandre; CR Avery; Jill Battson; Lisa Baird aka Lisa B; Steph Berntson; Wakefield Brewster; Chrystalene Buhler; Doretta Charles; Sue Cormier; TL Cowan ; D.Kimm; Katie Daley ; Dane Jah Ras (Dane Swan); Darek Dawda; Jake De Peuter ; sam decter (a/k/a sammy d); Shawna Dixon; SR Duncan; Dunce the Wizard; Christoff Engbrecht; Ian Ferrier; Kersten Flenter ; Eddie Garnier; Kagagn Goh ; Shauntay Grant; TL Groves ; Heather Hermant; Amanda Hiebert; Garth Hull; Ivy; iZrEAL; Zaccheus Jackson; carey jernigan (a/k/a talus); heronJones; Shane Koyczan; Jen Lam ; Eve Langevin; Steve Larkin; Leviathan; Al Mader; Loty Malebranche; Kevin Matthews; Brendan Mcleod; AJ Mckenzie ; Kevin Mackenzie; Justin McGrail; Brendan McLeod; Mike McGee ; Paul Cameron Miller; DJ Morales; Dwayne Morgan; Motion; alex murray (a/k/a blank space); Nereo; Kat Norris ; Alexis O’Hara; Oni the Haitian Sensation; Outlawed Matter; Overload; Bryan Parnell; Julie Parrell; Hilary Peach; Matt Peake; Hugh Phukovsky aka Paul Anthony; Pilote Le Hot; Q the Romantic Revolutionary; Fernando Raguero; Teagan Redekop; Nico Rogers; BethAnn Sadowski; Steve Sauve; Kim Shaughnessy; Joe Keithley aka Joey Shithead; David Silverberg; Mic Smith; Rose Smith; SPIN; Addena Sumter-Freitag; The Svelte Ms. Spelt; Brian Taylor; Andrea Thompson; T.O.F.U.; T.O.M.; scott towson; Magpie Ulysses; RC Weslowski; Will Da~RealOne; Sheri-D Wilson; Ardath Whynacht; Jeffrey Yu . . . and more

PROGRAM

Tickets are available at the door for the day events and the first two nights of poetry slam. The Finals night, Oct. 14 at the St. Lawrence Centre, offers tickets at an in-advance rate of $20, and at-door rate of $25. To purchase tickets for the Finals night in advance, please call 416-366-7723.

Wednesday, October 11
Cervejaria, 842 College (back room)
Registration, Meet n’ Greet

7pm: Registration
8:30pm: Opening remarks from Dwayne Morgan and Dave Silverberg
9pm: Feature performer Sheri-D Wilson
9:30pm: Feature performer Fernando Raguero
10pm: Open mic
10:30pm: Short film presentation

*This event is free and open to the public. It is also mandatory for all CFSW slam participants, in order to properly register

Thursday, Oct. 12: (At Trane Studio, 964 Bathurst St.)

Noon: open mic
1pm: Panel on how to record a spoken word CD, moderated by Leviathan, with panelists Motion, Ritallin and Eddy da original one
2pm: Lecture and interactive workshop on writing spoken word pieces, led by Shane Koyczan
3pm: NOW’s Social Justice League Showcase featuring Mike Smith and Robert Priest
4pm: Panel on how to successfully tour/market yourself, with Dwayne Morgan and Sheri-D Wilson, moderated by Andrea Thompson

THURSDAY EVENING

Let the slams begin!
8pm start
Slam bout 1: Vancouver vs. Toronto vs. Windsor vs. Montreal
Slam bout 2: Ottawa vs. Halifax vs. Winnipeg vs. Calgary
$10
at Trane Studios
Hosted by: Dave Silverberg, Andrea Thompson

Friday Oct. 13: (At Trane Studio, 964 Bathurst St.)

11am: CFSW board meeting (not open to public)
Noon: open mic
1pm: Dub poetry collective showcase, featuring Afua Cooper and friends
2pm: Youth Scream, with young poets around Ontario, hosted by Adele Barclay
3pm: Team piece workshop with Gypsy Eyes and R.C. Weslowski
4pm: Short lecture on the tips and tricks when applying for grants, by Eddy da original one

FRIDAY EVENING

Let the slams continue!
8pm start
Slam bout 1: Ottawa vs. Toronto vs. Winnipeg vs. Montreal
Slam bout 2: Vancouver vs. Halifax vs. Windsor vs. Calgary
$10

at Trane Studios
Hosted by: Eddy the Original One, Heron Jonse

Saturday Oct. 14: (At Victory Café, 581 Markham St.)

Noon: Open Mic
1pm: African-Canadian showcase, hosted by Lorraine Reid. Performers include Heron Jonse, Al St. Louis, and Motion
2pm: Queer Showcase hosted and featuring Sandra Alland, along with Lisa Slater and Sky Gilbert
3pm: Nerd Jam hosted by Matthew Glick, featuring Mike Bryant and Steve Sauve
4pm: Guerilla reading on the streets of Toronto. Walk from Victory Café through downtown Toronto and cheer on or join in as the artists perform for an unsuspecting public!
5pm: Performance at Indigo Bookstore (126 John St.), poetry-tag style

SATURDAY EVENING - FINAL NIGHT

Venue: St. Lawrence Centre For The Arts, 27 Front St. East
Hosted by Dwayne Morgan
starting at 8pm
Poet of Honour: Lillian Allen
Team Slam Final
Poet of Honour: Shane Koyczan
Slam series results
Wrap Party to follow