The Alchemist’s Light – Speak Your Self: a spoken word experience

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say.” – Paulo Cohelo, The Alchemist

Our histories and our stories are what drive us to find our voice, what drive us to be writers. It is our job to share these narratives with the world. It can be world-changing to voice our experiences and spoken word poetry is the perfect vehicle to do this.

This class will push you take risks in writing and performance. We will explore the foundations of spoken word and performance poetry, including the poetry slam, through sets of guided freewrites and performance activities. Come prepared to expand your boundaries, write to your core, and perform your heart out. We will start with what you know to be your truth and follow the light! All experience levels with spoken word poetry welcomed and fostered in the class.

Bio: Mary Pinkoski is an award-winning spoken word poet from Edmonton. A storyteller at heart, her writing has been called dynamic and visceral. Mary has presented her unique style of spoken word throughout North America, including at Tedx Edmonton (2012). In 2011 at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word she was voted Most Valuable Poet and was Captain of the Edmonton Poetry Slam Team, which won the National Championship. Mary was the winner ofthe 2008 National CBC Poetry Faceoff. When not performing, Mary runs spoken word workshops for youth and adults. See more here