Stroll of Poets Festival (Calgary)
Sunday, September 8th, 2024
All day, various venues in Inglewood, Calgary
Please note: Sunday, September 8th is also Car Free Day on 9th Ave. While it means good vibes for Strolling around, it will pose some difficulties for parking. So, please allow yourself plenty of time to park on side streets and walk over, or arrange for ride-sharing or whatever else you’re comfortable with.
$35 for Burlesque Brunch event (includes food and non-alcoholic drinks.)
$15 for the After Party at the Ironwood (featuring poetic & musical collaborations between Calgary Poet Laureates past & present and a performance from live band The Fragments!)
All other events are free.
Stroll of Poets is a non-profit organization based in Edmonton founded in 1991. In its first 15 years of operation, the organization ran an annual one-day multi-venue performance poetry festival that took place in both Calgary and Edmonton. In recent years, the annual festival has been replaced by a monthly reading series in Edmonton.
Our Program Coordinator Ashley Frerichs saw an opportunity to revive the Stroll of Poets festival in its original format in Calgary. She applied for and received a small grant from The City of Calgary and with their help, she was able to invite a diverse slate of local curators to enhance the event.
This is a Writers’ Guild of Alberta event supported by funding from the City of Calgary with enthusiastic support from the Stroll of Poets Society. Additional sponsors include Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society, The Confluence, and the Calgary Spoken Word Society.
On This Page: Our Curators | Open Mic Sign-Up | Brunch Kick-Off Tickets | Open Mic Host Applications | The Schedule | Volunteer Sign-Up | After Party Tickets | FREE Performance Poetry Workshop
Our Curators
We’re so excited to have the following curators on board:
Tyler B. Perry – 12:00pm at The Confluence (in the theatre)
featuring Ashley Fedun, Bethany Stanger, Gee Nelles, Heritage Oghotuama, Immanuella Oghotuama, Ken Hanson, Peter Katsnelson and Silvana Sabzevari
Skylar Kay – 1:00pm at Collector’s Gallery of Fine Art
featuring Bret Crowle, Henry Heavyshield and Hann Jade and Samantha Purchase
aloT of Poetry – 2:00pm at Rosso Inglewood
featuring Bethel Afework, Joy Idowu, Amandella Chervon Joseph, Gentille Ntuyenabo and Tyler Alyse Merchant with music by Tobi Sinclair
Stuart Ian McKay – 3:00pm at Collector’s Gallery of Fine Art
featuring Weyman Chan, Vivian Hansen, Tasnuva Hayden and Matt Smith
Cobra Collins – 4:00pm at Rosso Inglewood
featuring Henry Heavyshield, Dash Reimer and Josie Veness
Adrienne Adams – 5:00pm at Good News Coffee
featuring Bethel Afework, Weyman Chan, Tanecia Cromwell and Onyx Shelton
Open Mic Sign-Up Information
Non-members of affiliated organizations can now register to read at an open mic! In other words: anyone who wants to read at an open mic at the festival can now sign up.
These are poetry open mics and will happen at various venues in Inglewood on Sunday, September 8th. Please prepare your reading to be no longer than 5 minutes.
Please only sign up for one slot. If all interested poets sign up and there are still slots left, we will notify you and you’ll be able to sign up for a second slot.
Apply to Host an Open Mic!
Host applications are now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who applied!
Volunteer Sign-Up
Volunteer slots are now full. Thank you so much to everyone who signed up! If you want to sign up as a backup volunteer, please email Ashley at [email protected]
The Schedule
| Kick-Off Event! The Attic 1413 9 Ave SE | Vegan Street 1413 9 Ave SE | Collector’s Gallery of Fine Art 1332 9 Ave SE | Good News Coffee 1608 17 Ave SE | Rosso 1402 9 Ave SE | The Confluence 750 9 Avenue SE | After Party! Ironwood Stage & Grill 1229 9 Ave SE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Burlesque Brunch featuring MelVee X | ||||||
| 12:00pm – 1:00pm | Curated – Tyler B. Perry | ||||||
| 12:30pm – 1:30pm | OPEN MIC – Hosted by Taylor Stasila | ||||||
| 1:00pm – 2:00pm | Curated – Skylar Kay | ||||||
| 1:30pm – 2:30pm | OPEN MIC – Hosted by Charbel Nicolas | ||||||
| 2:30pm – 4:00pm | FREE Performance Poetry workshop with Matt. Miller | ||||||
| 2:00pm – 3:00pm | Curated – aloT of Poetry | ||||||
| 2:30pm – 3:30pm | OPEN MIC – Hosted by Shafraz Ladak | ||||||
| 3:00pm – 4:00pm | Curated – Stuart Ian McKay | ||||||
| 3:30pm – 4:30pm | OPEN MIC – Hosted by Naomi McIlwraith | ||||||
| 4:00pm – 5:00pm | Curated – Cobra Collins | ||||||
| 4:30pm – 5:30pm | OPEN MIC – Hosted by David Schmeikal | ||||||
| 5:00pm – 6:00pm | Curated – Adrienne Adams | ||||||
| 5:30pm – 6:30pm | SINGLE ONION OPEN MIC | ||||||
| 7:00pm | Readings & music by Calgary Poet Laureates past & present | ||||||
| 8:30 PM | The Fragments (live band) |
Burlesque & Brunch Kick-Off Event
Kick the day off in style with a Burlesque Brunch at The Attic featuring spoken word poet and burlesque dancer, MelVee X aka Blaq Velvet!
MelVee X aka Blaq Velvet is a triple threat – she’s a spoken word poet, burlesque dancer and visual artist who’s shared her work across Turtle Island (Canada) for the last seven years. Smashing all your precious little notions about what Black women can do, you never know what side of Blaq Velvet you’re gonna get.
She’s also CEO of MVX STUDIOS – a hub for creativity and empowered artistic expression based in Calgary, Alberta.
It is her vision to create and cultivate spaces for those who have been silenced to unapologetically tell the richness and complexity of their own stories from their own perspectives. The struggle is real and the resistance has never looked so damn good.
This event is sponsored by the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society.
BUY TICKETS:
Stroll of Poets Festival Kick-Off: Burlesque Brunch with MelVee X
FREE Performance Poetry Workshop with Matt. Miller
Please join us for this FREE Performance Poetry Workshop with Calgary Poetry Slam Master, Matt. Miller!
Sunday, September 8th
2:30pm to 4:00pm at the Confluence (in the boardroom)
750 9th Ave SE, Calgary
FREE
Space is limited to 10 participants. Please register using the form below.
At this free 90-minute workshop, you can expect to glean some tips and techniques on how to deliver an engaging poetry performance. Please bring a spoken word piece to workshop!
About the Facilitator
Matt. Miller hails from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 2014 Canadian Poetry Slam Champion. 4-time Canadian Representative at the National Poetry Slam. Retired Beer League Baseball Player. One-time Worm Picker. Former Salmon Derby Co-ordinator. Spent a summer rabbit breeding. Turns jokes into poems and poems into jokes.
This special programming is in partnership with The Confluence.
Hello, thank you for your interest in attending this free workshop at the Stroll of Poets Festival. Registrations are now full, but please email [email protected] to be added to the waitlist. You will be contacted ASAP if there are any cancellations.
After Party Tickets
Join us for the After Party at the Ironwood Stage & Grill at 7pm featuring a poetic and musical collaboration between Calgary Poet Laureate Emerita:
Wakefield Brewster
Kris Demeanor
Micheline Maylor
Sheri-D Wilson
PLUS a performance from local indie pop/jazz fusion band The Fragments!