Inter Arts Matrix and Pinch are happy to co-present Big Mouth Beauty, a night of poetry, spoken word and music.
Featuring: Kedrick James, Clifton Joseph, and John Sobol.
With Regional Talents: Shalaka Jadhav (host), and an opening performance by local writer and performer, Monika Kitor.
Doors will open at Waterloo Community Arts Centre at 7:00 p.m. Event will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Kedrick James is a language naturalist, exploring the wilds of discourse and befriending all the strange creatures he finds there. He explores improvisation and extends his poetics to music and other media. He is the founder of PhoneMe, a free mobile app for place-based spoken poetry and believes in poetry as something of, for, and by the people. He has published his work in books, magazines, journals and on vinyl records, cassettes, CDs and online. He is best known as a spoken word performer, and in this capacity has toured internationally, been featured on TV, radio, podcasts and theatrical productions. He currently works as a professor in the the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, and is writing on a new book about poetry in the age of language-generating Artificial Intelligence. He spends his spare time on his ranch in the Boundary Country of southern British Columbia.
Cilfton Joseph is one of the founder of Canada’ dub poetry movement. Born in Antigua and raised in Canada, Clifton Joseph is a popular poet, educator, performer, and journalist. He has written for publications like The Globe And Mail or Contrast Magazine while also being an active member within pop culture through different outlets whether with solo poetry readings, performing on stage with bands, or teaching a group of students. He has authored the acclaimed Metropolitan Blues, a book of poems; several recordings of poetry & music including his debut album Oral / Trans / Missions, his latest album Shots On Eglinton.
Canadian action poet and saxophonist John Sobol has performed across Canada and internationally for over 30 years as both a solo artist and with a wide range of collaborators. He has appeared at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Vancouver Folk Festival, and many other major festivals, and last month was in Budapest gigging with drummer Balázs Pándi. He created Canada's largest spoken word festival at the Banff Centre for the Arts and also ran a record label called Word of Mouth. He has released several albums including Blue History (1991), Verbomotorhead (with AWOL Love Vibe, 1997), Datazoic Folk (2012) and It's Only True If It Happened To You (2021). He toured his one man show, Two Million Years of Technology to rave reviews (2005-07) and is the author of many books, including Digitopia Blues (2002) and Poetic Logic (2023).
Shalaka Jadhav spent their childhood between cities in India and in Dubai, before moving to a neighbourhood spitting distance from Ontario's largest mall. They now join from Block 2 of the Haldimand Tract, splitting their time on Treaty 1 territory. Trained as an urban planner and practicing as a curator, Shalaka has worked across multiple roles, including audio journalism, in social innovation spaces, in urban planning departments, on rooftop gardens, and on farms. Across their work, they strive to apply an ecosystem approach of thinking, dreaming, and sustaining. Shalaka is an Emerging Curator as part of the inaugural University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery Visiting Curator Program, and a member of the Relationships, Reciprocity, Exchange Collective at OCAD University. They'll likely point out the names of "weeds" as you walk together, enjoy studying the menus of local restaurants, and always order dessert.
Monika Kitor is a local writer and performer, regularly hosting writing circles in downtown Kitchener as KW Creative Circle. Currently, her writing is inspired by questions and edges. She will be performing poetry and short stories at Big Mouth Beauty.
This event is sponspored by Textile Magazine. A special Thanks to Ben Gorodetsky and Fitsum Areguy.
