On February 8th, The Vancouver Poetry Slam welcomes Ottawa's John Akpata and Vancouver's Adelene da Soul Poet to feature at our annual Pan African Slam
John Akpata lives in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. John is a writer, musician, radio show host and political activist. As a Spoken Word artist, John has appeared on CBC radio and CBC television. He has peformed coast to coast across Canada, has dipped into the U.S. and has toured across the United Kingdom.
He has attended National Poetry Slam in Chicago, and has been a member of, or been a coach to several Ottawa teams that have performed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. John has released a full length CD of poetry and music titled "Kerheb" that was completed with assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts. John has also been featured on CDs such as Live at Capital Slam 2005 and 2006, as well as bass player and featured performer on Freewill's the House of Words.
His self produced live CD of poetry and music "Live from Mercury" is soon to be released, as well as another studio CD of Spoken Word and music titled "Breadcrumbs." Last year John Akpata travelled to Domincan Republic, Nigeria and Jamaica for poetry research, and spiritual journeys. Aside from Vancouver John will be travelling to Halifax in February, and in March John will be a feature performer at the upcoming St. Anza International Poetry Festival in Edinburgh Scotland, where he will be opening for dub poetry legend Linton Kwesi Johnson.
John is also the host of Monday Night Scribes on CHUO 89.1 FM, a weekly radio broadcast (and soon to be podcast) dedicated to writers, reciters, MCs and poets. Each week John hosts a different guest to perform on the air, and talk about the art of writing.
John Akpata is also a member of the Marijuana Party of Canada. John has run in the last three federal elections, receiveing a total of 1354 votes. Politicians have had temper tantrums; blackberry's have been smashed, seven figure lawyers have cried or had emotional breakdowns; debates have been cancelled when the poet has appeared.
Whether poetry or politics, John loves the double edged sword, and always brings fire.
and
Adelene...da soul poet
I was born in San Francisco, the youngest of 11 kids.When I was 8 yrs old my mother and father divorced and mom moved us back to her home in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Mom's families, the Starks and the Alexanders, were the first black pioneers to settle in Victoria and on Salt Spring Island BC in the mid 1800’s.
Those black pioneers, freed slaves, came to Canada by ship by invitation of Sir James Douglas, the first Governor of BC . In the 1940’s my grandma and grandpa started bootlegging. They lived in an area known as Hogan’s Alley.
At that time there were no restaurants where you could have a drink with a meal because of prohibition. Grandpa would have people over to play cards and grandma would serve fried chicken and sell booze.
The year was 1946 when she opened the restaurant called Vie’s Chicken and Steaks. It was a slow start, so grandma continued to sell booze.
In the early 50’s the restaurant started jumping because of
the number of celebrities coming around after their performances
in nightclubs in Vancouver. Vie’s was where the party was.
She hosted such greats as Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway,
Diana Ross and the Supremes, Errol Grant, Ella Fitzgerald and her band,
Ray Charles and many many more. It was at this time that grandma and grandpa got out of the bootlegging business and focused entirely on the restaurant.
Ma moved back to Vancouver with us kids in 1965. It was then she started working with grandma. I remember mom making the biscuits, while I swept the floors and set up the tables. That was our time together. I started writing poetry at that time inspired and encouraged by mom. I became known as the story teller.
My writing reflects the wisdom, humor, positive spirit and the strong will of my mother. She always told me to share my words with the world. As an adult when I write, I feel a deep spiritual connection coming from a source before my time. I feel the spirit and soul of the people. I write under the name of Adelene in honor of my mother, and perform as Adelene, da soul poet. I do believe our spirits will forever be entwined.
I believe there is one god, yet there are many. I respect the one and I respect the many. I believe if mankind respected the one and the many….we would live in peace.
My message….bring peace to this world, feed the babies, house the homeless,stop the genocides …the wars...and all crimes against humanity.
Adelene...da soul poet
For this show the rules are a bit different. There will be an open mic and a slam but preference will be given to performers or poets of African descent or who identify as black or indigenous or original; poets and performers who explore the black experience in their work.
For the slam itself, poets will be given 3 minutes and 33 seconds and it is open to any type of performance that pertains to the aforementioned preferencial theme. Team pieces and music are allowed.
The judges for the evening will be randomly selected and will score the poets from a scale of 1 to 3 (symbols will be used, not actual numbers), 1 being the highest (Your favourite poem or performance), 2 being the midpoint (It was aight), and 3 being the lowest (That was offensive and bad). The poet(s) with the lowest total score after two rounds will be the Pan African Slam Champ of 2010 and will be showered with prizes and praise.
The Pan African Slam is a joint venture between the Vancouver Poetry Slam and the Black Dot Roots Collective and will be hosted by 2008 Grand Slam Champ, Scruffmouth
Where: Café Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive
Signup and Door begin at 8:00PM
Open Mic starts at 8:45PM
The Slam starts at 9:00PM
Cover is $5-10
Hope to see you there and my suggestion is to come early because this event sells out every year. For additional information or questions about the event please contact:
blackdotcollective@gmail.com,
scruffmouth@gmail.com or
mcgarragle@gmail.com
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