International Festival of Poetry of Resistance- Toronto Ont.

IFPOR PROGRAMME FOR 100 000 POETS FOR CHANGE

Dooney’s Cafe, 296 Brunswick Avenue (just south of Bloor).

Sep. 24, 3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The 3rd International Festival of Poetry and Resistance (IFPOR) is in honour of oppressed people everywhere. In 2009, it focused on freedom for the Cuban Five and in 2010, on self-determination of peoples.  This year, it is taking place in Toronto October 14 – 16, 2011, at various locations: Steelworkers’ Hall, 25 Cecil Street; The 519 Community Centre, 519 Church Street; Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham Street; and Dooney’s Cafe, 296 Brunswick Avenue (just south of Bloor).

IFPOR views poetry as, yes, a source of delight, but, also, as a weapon for liberation as it was used by the great poets of the past such as Nazim Hikmet, Pablo Neruda, Ho Chi Minh, Jose Marti, Vladimir Mayakovsky and so many others around the world.  We aim to cross borders and cultures to unite in our struggles for a more just world for all. We are in favour of peace with justice, a sustainable environment and against  greed, war, racism or discrimination. We base our aims on a recognition of the beauty of inherent and diverse qualities in people.

We encourage the writing and presentation of poetry and the spoken word to reflect the cri de coeur of peoples around the world seeking
a more equitable re-distribution of the earth’s resources, locally. nationally and internationally, with the belief that a more just world  possible.

Therefore, we are proud to take part in  “100 000 Poets For Change” with an event at Dooney’s Cafe, Saturday, Sep 24, featuring the following line-up:
Music intro:
Wally Brooker – saxaphone- he played sax at the opening session of the First IFPOR in 2009 and will be performing again this year; in addition to performing in support of numerous progressive causes, he writes a monthly music column for the People’s Voice newspaper.

Poetry:

Banoo Zan -published author or articles, biographies, translations and poetry in English and Persian. The 2nd edition of her book “The Song of Phoenix: Life and Works of Sylvia Plath”, appeared in 2010;

Carlos Angulo – escaped from Peru when his life was in danger (for political reasons) a few decades ago, he is an acclaimed internationally-known poet who currently resides in Hamilton;

Allen Sutterfield– poet and visual artist; original founder of The Art Bar reading series.  His most recent book is “Children of the Fire”, published 2011 by LyricalMyracle Press.

Mahlikah Awe:ri – a drum talk poetic rapologist of African-American/Mohawk Mi’kmaw heritage, with Nova Scotian roots. When she’s not delivering urban arts workshops in school’s and communities across Ontario; she competes in Slam competitions; tours and records with Red Slam Collective a soul/rock/hip hop fusion band. In March 2011 she released Serpent’s Skin a 7 trax EP with Isaac Riverwalker of Red Slam.

Arnold Itwaru – poet, writer, scholar and artist, Arnold is originally from Guyana where he won national awards for his poetry and painting. He has authored 13 books:poetry, fiction and scholarly writing.  His most recent publication is “The White Supremacist State: Eurocentrism Imperialism Colinialism Racism.”

Jeannine Pitas – writer and teacher from Buffalo, N.Y., currently residing in Toronto. She is also the English translator of Uruguayan poet, Marosa di Gorgio’s “The History of Violerts”.

Patrick Connors – is an arts writer for news4u.net. He was recently featured at The Art Bar, Subtext Multi-Arts Festival and will be featured at Brockton Writers on October 5th.

Sheniz Janmohamed – a spoken word artist, author and graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. She is the founder of Ignite Poets, a youth spoken word initiative with an emphasis on social awareness. She is also the author of Bleeding Light (TSAR) a collection of sufi poetry written in ghazal form.

Rambling Andy O’Rourke, the Strolling Minstrel Guy

Natasha Ksonzek – originally from Montreal. Natasha is a poet, artist and publisher of Other Eye Books which specializes in new literary and activist scholarly writing with social insight, anti-imperialism and anti-racism.

Rabin Ramah – published poet, writer, actor and a landscape, botanical photographer, originally from Trinidad-Tobago. He hopes to save the world with his writing and photography.  Currently he is the featured photographer on the Ritz Carleton Magazine for Toronto.

Ava Homa – Kurdish-Canadian, writer-in-exile, she is the author of “Echoes from the Other Land”nominated in 2011 for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Its theme is one of resistance by modern Iranian women under an oppressive regime.

Gwen Nowak McGrenere– poet and author, columnist for Catholic New Times(1978-1985), author of “Miriam ofNazareth: Who can find her?”(2000); book reviews published in Books in Canada, 2001-2006  www.miriamofnazareth.com

Stuart Ross and students from the Poetry Boot Camp – Stuart has published six books of poetry, has been short-listed and won many awards and is now teaching workshops across Canada.

There are a few more poets to be confirmed.

www,poetryofresistance.org
Email: resistancepoetryfest@yahoo.ca

 

 

 

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