WRITERS FÊTE 2021
NEW WORKS
Writers Fête 2021 is proud to present the world premieres of new works commissioned for the Festival from seven Canadian artists. Each creation helps enable the Festival’s new mandate to connect our audiences with pressing social justice issues. We are delighted to support:
Here’s what some of the artists have to say about their new work, their creative process, and the social justice outcomes they hope to influence.
- La Pêche visual artist Spencer Hanna Haworth with two new sketches for his project "I am always here," which documents the lives of homeless people in Ottawa. Click here for Spencer's artist's statement and gallery.
- Poet Laureate of Ottawa Albert Dumont with two new poems, one about homelessness and one about the wisdom of trees.
- La Pêche poet Julie Le Gal and cellist Fanny Bray Marks (together as Corti Duo) with two new pieces for voice and cello about "the big impact of small actions".
- Edmonton singer songwriter Maria Dunn with a new song about homelessness.
- Ottawa singer songwriter Lynn Miles with a new song about homelessness.
- Saskatoon playwright Joel Bernbaum with a reworking of his verbatim theatre piece Home is a Beautiful Word, co-produced with Theatre Wakefield. This work was originally commissioned for and performed in the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, BC
Here’s what some of the artists have to say about their new work, their creative process, and the social justice outcomes they hope to influence.
Albert Dumont, poet
As a human rights activist and as a human being it is heart-wrenching for me to see people with mental illness who have never hurt anyone or anything living on the street. What we as citizens sadly fail to recognize, so it seems, is that a loved one of our own—a son or daughter, a beloved niece or nephew—could suddenly be stricken with schizophrenia or some other mental illness, putting them into a state of mind where the street is the only place offering a sense of comfort and security to their troubled minds. Bad drugs also take their destructive toll on how people who abuse them process their thoughts. Whatever the reasons are, people who are loved by family and friends sometimes end up living on the streets.
My inspiration came from the fact that I almost succumbed to street life myself at a time in the past when severe alcohol addiction pushed me with great force towards a life on the sidewalks of Ottawa's streets. It wasn't a sickness nor bad drugs which knocked me off balance. It was a cruel society as experienced by me, that had me believing misery and heartache was the only life I could ever expect to have as an “Indian” born on a Reserve. When you carry such beliefs day in and day out, you just don't feel worthy of the “normal” life you see others living.
I believe that my poetry began to grow in my heart even before my body left my mother's womb. My spirit sings its song of praise for all who make a point through the power of poetry.
The trees, who I accept as beings much greater and wiser than the most learned of all the peoples of this world (including grassroots leaders such as myself) will one day, through the strength of spirituality, communicate to human beings that without the presence of trees on sacred Mother Earth, the planet will die. Because of the power of spirit, all people of this planet, not just “tree huggers,” will as one fight to save the trees. A tree is magnificent in its healing powers and in its ability to give us teachings to guide our lives in a way that we can benefit greatly in both the emotional and spiritual domains. Whether they are tiny figures peeking from the rich soil—or standing, life gone from them for decades, without branches nor bark—the trees give us lessons we can share with others who may be struggling with life's torments. Those of them long dead teach us that the ancestors are still present near us when we need support by our side. Any place where trees grow in massive numbers is a healing place of tremendous energy and inspiration. The holy books of religions have forgotten this. Indigenous Spirituality has not!
As a human rights activist and as a human being it is heart-wrenching for me to see people with mental illness who have never hurt anyone or anything living on the street. What we as citizens sadly fail to recognize, so it seems, is that a loved one of our own—a son or daughter, a beloved niece or nephew—could suddenly be stricken with schizophrenia or some other mental illness, putting them into a state of mind where the street is the only place offering a sense of comfort and security to their troubled minds. Bad drugs also take their destructive toll on how people who abuse them process their thoughts. Whatever the reasons are, people who are loved by family and friends sometimes end up living on the streets.
My inspiration came from the fact that I almost succumbed to street life myself at a time in the past when severe alcohol addiction pushed me with great force towards a life on the sidewalks of Ottawa's streets. It wasn't a sickness nor bad drugs which knocked me off balance. It was a cruel society as experienced by me, that had me believing misery and heartache was the only life I could ever expect to have as an “Indian” born on a Reserve. When you carry such beliefs day in and day out, you just don't feel worthy of the “normal” life you see others living.
I believe that my poetry began to grow in my heart even before my body left my mother's womb. My spirit sings its song of praise for all who make a point through the power of poetry.
The trees, who I accept as beings much greater and wiser than the most learned of all the peoples of this world (including grassroots leaders such as myself) will one day, through the strength of spirituality, communicate to human beings that without the presence of trees on sacred Mother Earth, the planet will die. Because of the power of spirit, all people of this planet, not just “tree huggers,” will as one fight to save the trees. A tree is magnificent in its healing powers and in its ability to give us teachings to guide our lives in a way that we can benefit greatly in both the emotional and spiritual domains. Whether they are tiny figures peeking from the rich soil—or standing, life gone from them for decades, without branches nor bark—the trees give us lessons we can share with others who may be struggling with life's torments. Those of them long dead teach us that the ancestors are still present near us when we need support by our side. Any place where trees grow in massive numbers is a healing place of tremendous energy and inspiration. The holy books of religions have forgotten this. Indigenous Spirituality has not!
Corti Duo
Fanny Bray Marks, cellist
Julie Le Gal, poet & lyricist:
Often a poem will come as an image or feeling that wants to be expanded and observed in more detail. Some poems are insistent and clear; others need to be teased out of hiding before the real poem appears. The piece mourning coffee I wrote for the Writers Fête was my first on a commissioned theme, and I found the texture of the theme to be imbedded in our daily gestures, our micro, half thoughts, things we know yet don’t really let land on our action. When I opened the gate, the images flooded in and I saw myself, us all, always on the edge of knowing what things really mean—on the edge of the whole world, of us all, of the macro, just a gesture, a thought, a look away...from everyone and everything.
POEMS TO COME?
Fanny Bray Marks, cellist
Julie Le Gal, poet & lyricist:
Often a poem will come as an image or feeling that wants to be expanded and observed in more detail. Some poems are insistent and clear; others need to be teased out of hiding before the real poem appears. The piece mourning coffee I wrote for the Writers Fête was my first on a commissioned theme, and I found the texture of the theme to be imbedded in our daily gestures, our micro, half thoughts, things we know yet don’t really let land on our action. When I opened the gate, the images flooded in and I saw myself, us all, always on the edge of knowing what things really mean—on the edge of the whole world, of us all, of the macro, just a gesture, a thought, a look away...from everyone and everything.
POEMS TO COME?
Maria Dunn, singer-songwriter:
1. First, I panic :-) with any sort of deadline or commission.
2. Then I immerse myself in reading, listening/watching interviews, speaking with people.
3. If I end up drawing on a particular person's story, I seek consent (and later feedback on whether the song "rings true") from the person, community or organization (in the case where an organization approaches me to write a song).
4. I pay attention to turns of phrase that leap out at me and to my own emotional reactions to people's experiences, emotions and voices.
5. My job is then to try to capture the emotional core of the story, sometimes with narrative points that also need to be covered (but not in too much detail so as to "bog down" the song), and work it into a song form (with melody and lyrics and a time limit of generally about 5 minutes).
6. I try to write from an angle that will leave the listener with hope (especially if it's a hard subject).
7. I usually focus on lyrics first, which often suggests the rhythmic feel, and then I detail whatever initial melodic shape comes with it afterwards (ensuring that it doesn't sound too much like an existing traditional Irish, Stan Rogers, Rita MacNeil, Lynn Miles or Maria Dunn song :-).
8. Then I sing it a million times until I'm satisfied that the lyrics and melody work together effectively and that I am ready to perform it for an audience.
Whew!
1. First, I panic :-) with any sort of deadline or commission.
2. Then I immerse myself in reading, listening/watching interviews, speaking with people.
3. If I end up drawing on a particular person's story, I seek consent (and later feedback on whether the song "rings true") from the person, community or organization (in the case where an organization approaches me to write a song).
4. I pay attention to turns of phrase that leap out at me and to my own emotional reactions to people's experiences, emotions and voices.
5. My job is then to try to capture the emotional core of the story, sometimes with narrative points that also need to be covered (but not in too much detail so as to "bog down" the song), and work it into a song form (with melody and lyrics and a time limit of generally about 5 minutes).
6. I try to write from an angle that will leave the listener with hope (especially if it's a hard subject).
7. I usually focus on lyrics first, which often suggests the rhythmic feel, and then I detail whatever initial melodic shape comes with it afterwards (ensuring that it doesn't sound too much like an existing traditional Irish, Stan Rogers, Rita MacNeil, Lynn Miles or Maria Dunn song :-).
8. Then I sing it a million times until I'm satisfied that the lyrics and melody work together effectively and that I am ready to perform it for an audience.
Whew!
Joel Bernbaum, playwright:
TO BE EDITED-FIRST PERSON
Verbatim theatre is a term for scripts made from interviews or transcripts. For this play, Joel Bernbaum interviewed over 500 people in Victoria BC between 2012 and 2014 -- and then the interviews were transcribed and edited into a script. The original production was dramaturged and directed by Michael Shamata and commissioned and premiered at the Belfry Theatre in 2014.
Tonight’s reading is a condensed version of the original script, commissioned by Theatre Wakefield and the Wakefield Writers Fete. At times you will hear stand-alone opinions from individual people and at other times, you will hear individual’s stories braided throughout the play.
One of the appealing aspects of verbatim theatre is that voices not often present in the traditional media can be heard. For the original production - and for tonight’s reading - actors of different ages, genders and backgrounds shift between multiple different people of different ages, genders and backgrounds. We acknowledge that in this play there are voices from all cultures in our community, but that our entire community is not visible here on stage.
We hope that this form of playwriting offers a kaleidoscopic view of the issue of homelessness. Tonight, we will have a 3-act structure, the two acts of the play followed by a panel discussion. Between each act we will have a 5-minute intermission. Thank you to the sold-out crowd here tonight and the hundreds of people viewing online. Please welcome the actors to read Home Is a Beautiful Word.
TO BE EDITED-FIRST PERSON
Verbatim theatre is a term for scripts made from interviews or transcripts. For this play, Joel Bernbaum interviewed over 500 people in Victoria BC between 2012 and 2014 -- and then the interviews were transcribed and edited into a script. The original production was dramaturged and directed by Michael Shamata and commissioned and premiered at the Belfry Theatre in 2014.
Tonight’s reading is a condensed version of the original script, commissioned by Theatre Wakefield and the Wakefield Writers Fete. At times you will hear stand-alone opinions from individual people and at other times, you will hear individual’s stories braided throughout the play.
One of the appealing aspects of verbatim theatre is that voices not often present in the traditional media can be heard. For the original production - and for tonight’s reading - actors of different ages, genders and backgrounds shift between multiple different people of different ages, genders and backgrounds. We acknowledge that in this play there are voices from all cultures in our community, but that our entire community is not visible here on stage.
We hope that this form of playwriting offers a kaleidoscopic view of the issue of homelessness. Tonight, we will have a 3-act structure, the two acts of the play followed by a panel discussion. Between each act we will have a 5-minute intermission. Thank you to the sold-out crowd here tonight and the hundreds of people viewing online. Please welcome the actors to read Home Is a Beautiful Word.
