Inspired Word Café Returns for Season 15

Inspired Word Café Returns for Season 15

Inspired Word Café (IWC) is getting ready to launch its fifteenth season with a series of open mic and open slam events.

The open mic is for anyone to perform music, poetry, stand-up comedy, a sketch, or any genre you can think of to share in our positive space. The open slam invites people to come prepared with three original poems in any style to compete in rounds to win cash prizes.

IWC is also doing a call for spoken word poetry from the Okanagan for an anthology to be printed for their 15th season.

“Sharing on stage is just one part of being a poet or writer and so we wanted to create more opportunities for our local community through publication,” says Erin Scott, IWC Board President.

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Join us in turning over a new leaf!

Inspired Word Cafe has always put the needs of our community first and foremost. After the Fireweed Eco-Fest, we wondered, would we do another Eco-Fest or create something unique? We wanted to continue with festival programming, but we needed to create programming that aligned with our values, listened to the needs and interests of the community, and could change alongside it. The inaugural New Leaves Festival of Arts and Culture takes the idiom “turning over a new leaf” as inspiration to focus on an annually changing theme speaking to expressed/urgent needs of the community.

Responding to a recent rise in anti-LGBTQ2SIA+ sentiment in the Okanagan and beyond, the 2024 New Leaves theme is “Queer Art as Resistance,” focussing on celebrating queer arts through drag, poetry, music, comedy, dance and more. For three days in Kelowna’s downtown core, a host of artists from from the Okanagan and across Canada will perform (in both French and English) and put on workshops.

Queerness isn’t always about gender or sexuality, rather, as scholar Janet Jakobsen writes, it’s also “resistance to norms and normativity.” Following this, New Leaves 2024 will not just celebrate LGBTQ2SIA+ voices, but explore art’s potential for resistance and change. In gathering for New Leaves 2024, we ask: How might art shift long-held societal perceptions of LGBTQ2SIA+ and other resistant communities? How might coming together to celebrate the contrast in our community help grow it into a safe and inclusive space for people from all walks of life?

Inspired Word Prize (and Anthology): a spoken word contest!

The Inspired Word Café is calling for spoken word poetry for an anthology to be printed for our 15th season. 

The Inspired Word Prize aims to celebrate the power of spoken word poetry by poets within the Okanagan region, encompassing the vibrant communities from Osoyoos to Salmon Arm, and Keremeos to Lumby. This anthology project seeks to curate a collection of poetry that reflects the diverse voices and experiences of our local poets.

A jury of IWC collective members, board members and staff will jury all submissions to choose the top twelve submissions to be printed in the anthology. The top three will receive cash prizes: first prize: $250; second prize: $150; third prize: $100, sponsored by the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art.

Deadline to apply: November 15, 2024. 

Submission Fee: $10 for members, $20 for non-members

Need to purchase a membership? Click HERE 

(Membership is valid for the IWC Season 15).

Please go to the SUBMISSION FORM to submit your poems and pay the fee.

(Note: there is no theme for the contest, anything goes!)



Team Heroes or Team Villains: You decide!

Team Heroes or Team Villains: You decide!

The much-anticipated Inspired Word Café (IWC) Team Slam event is coming up on March 28th at BNA Brewing. Team Heroes and Team Villains will compete with their poetry to see who will reign victorious. A slam is a competitive event where poets perform original works to a lively and engaged audience.

The event is designed to foster high calibre performances, new work by local poets, and an interactive and rowdy night of fun for the audience. “Unlike other poetry events, a slam is interactive, with the audience playing a key role as the judges for the competition,” explains Ken Shaw, IWC collective member and one of the hosts of this year’s contest. 

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Writing workshops offer space to develop your own work

Writing workshops offer space to develop your own work

In addition to running the open mic series, which offers a space for writers to share their poetry, writing, music, and more, Inspired Word Café (IWC) collective members also run writing workshops for anyone to share their work and receive in-person and direct feedback. 

“Attendees are asked to bring 10 printed copies of a piece of writing, not to exceed two pages, to be reviewed by an inclusive and positive group of fellow writers,” explains IWC collective member and workshop facilitator, Ryan Ennis.

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