Ink Movement Montreal’s first workshop of the semester took place at ECOLE, a community workspace that is devoted to sustainability – both environmental and social, through endeavours such as community living and anti-oppression projects. ECOLE’s comfortable space set a pleasant and relaxed tone for the workshop, as participants sat crosslegged on different couches and chairs scattered around the room. The dozen-or-so attendees came from diverse writing backgrounds – some had published books, while some merely dabbled in poetry or prose – demonstrating the appeal of these workshops to newcomers and experts alike.

During the editing process, each submitted piece was given new life.

Each Ink Movement workshop is facilitated by a more senior writer; this one was led by current Concordia graduate student Aimee Wall. Originally from Newfoundland, Wall is now studying translation, which, as she described, is, “a whole different kind of writing.” Wall said she was “interested in the type of stuff that refuses to be what it’s supposed to be.” As a facilitator, she chose to participate in the workshop equally alongside the others, making subtle suggestions about the works, rather than lecturing.

The workshop’s atmosphere was natural and not strictly organized – it was, in no way, equivalent to a course at another university. This provided a relaxed peer-editing experience, but not the same level of rigorous critique and instruction that might come from the classroom. During the one-hour lunch break, students did, however, express their appreciation for a program like Ink Movement that allows them to communally edit work. As Ink Movement is a youth-run organization, it depends on the full participation of its volunteers and event attendees to function as an organization, and whose contributions make up the substance of workshops.

During the editing process, each submitted piece was given new life. Each piece was read aloud and then critiqued by the group members, who took turns sharing their thoughts – with no response from the writer. The writers received constructive criticism, comments, and compliments, of course, for approximately forty minutes. Each story differed just as much as its writer did; while some participants were prose writers, others were bloggers, and yet others spoken word poets, representative of the numerous ways to be a writer in the 21st century. At the end of each writer’s turn, their work had been discussed in-depth and received a high level of attention from complete strangers that it would never otherwise have seen.

While workshops such as this are an important resource for aspiring authors, organizations like Ink Movement are about more than just improving practical skills. They foster creative communities within Montreal, providing an outlet for youth who might otherwise get left behind. As Victoria Linel, French Literary Editor of Ink Movement, said to the group, “Ink Movement is not just about writing, it is about self expression.”

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Emile, the evening’s host, got the ball rolling with a performance of his own work, weaving song with performance poetry, and encouraging the audience to clap along with him as he sang, “All I wanted was a hero, I’m a hero, you’re a hero…” Over the course of the evening, seven spoken word artists stepped onstage to become heroes in their own right as they shared their poetic interpretations of the competition’s theme, “Smashing Stereotypes in the Media.”

The Black Theatre Workshop (BTW), the oldest black theatre company in Canada, is predominantly known for its professional theatre, rather than performance poetry. “[This event is] a nice way to bridge the gap,” explained the company’s artistic director Quincy Armorer. “A lot of times, the different genres of performance are segregated, and a lot of people who are used to going to spoken word events might not go to the theatre events.” It’s not hard to see why audiences might prefer one over the other – theatre and spoken word are hugely different in both their development and performance. Poetry slams have none of the dialogue, scenery, costumes, or choreography of theatre. Spoken word is raw in both presentation and content, and poets have limited time to jam-pack their message into their performance. Theatrical performance may seem drawn-out to spoken word enthusiasts, while spoken word may come across as intense and overly concise to theatre-lovers.

The performances at the slam, however, satisfied theatre and poetry enthusiasts alike. Most readings were in the fast-paced, fervent recitation typical of spoken word, some with fluid rhythm approaching rap, and some so smooth and personable it seemed the poet was speaking to the audience like a close friend. The crowd was responsive, snapping along to Emile’s opening song, nodding in agreement with lines of poetry, and clapping after each piece.

Though this spoken word style was miles away from formal theatre, the content was accessible and relatable for any kind of art enthusiast. Brefny Caribou, an actor, first-time slam poet, and recent graduate of Concordia’s theatre program, interpreted the “Smashing Stereotypes” theme from a personal perspective, incorporating her own past experiences. In an anecdotal piece, Caribou told the story of being questioned about her specific ethnicity while on the job as a store clerk, quoting one customer’s invasive, “What are you?”

“This poem had been in my back pocket for a really long time,” Caribou said. “It was just floating around and I was really into it, but never had a platform for it.” For Caribou, this year’s BTW Poetry Jam was the perfect opportunity to have her poetic voice heard for the first time. “For me, it was just getting the content of what I had written out there into the world somehow.”

Patrick Ohslund, second-place winner of the jam and current McGill graduate student in the Faculty of Education, also used past experience as fuel for his poem. Telling the story of his own sexual assault in high school, Ohslund addressed the horrors of peer pressure and homophobia in the social dynamics between high schoolers. “It was such an emotionally impactful experience in my life,” Ohslund explained to The Daily. “Being able to transform that into something positive can be a source of transformation for myself.”

The jam’s first-prize winner, Svens Telemaque, used the stage as a medium to voice frustrations over racial stereotypes in the media throughout history. When dealing with such socio-political topics, however, sometimes a poem may not feel like enough. “I feel like I got my message across,” Telemaque told The Daily, but went on to reveal that given the complexity of his content, he sometimes has trouble saying everything he wants to. “A speech would do it justice […] if someone were to look into the content of what I was saying, it would be more enriching.”

Telemaque’s statement raises questions with regard to the effectiveness of slam in comparison to other scripted artistic mediums. A lengthy speech provides more factual information, whereas slam poetry will likely provoke emotional responses from the audience. While theatre can more easily straddle these two methods, there is a crucial difference in that the material is often not written by the performers themselves. Caribou, an experienced actress in the Montreal community, finds this to be the biggest change in switching to performing poetry. “As an actor, you get a play […] you are doing a production of something,” Caribou said. “But there is a whole level of vulnerability and intensity that comes along with performing your own words […] this isn’t a character […] it’s just me, it’s my words.”

At the end of the night, three talented poets left the building with cash prizes, while audience members left as newfound poetry fans, or future theatre-goers. Events such as BTW’s Poetry Jam allow personal stories like Caribou’s to reach a wider audience than the spoken word community, demonstrating the importance of using individual experiences to dismantle systemic problems.

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