This month, we’re featuring not one but three QWF members!
Michael “BeWyrd” Clarke, Caitlin Murphy, and Deb Vanslet were the winners of QWF’s 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Prize, and the diversity of their artistic practice reflects the rich possibilities spoken word as a genre offers. QWF Membership Services Coordinator Riley Palanca asked them about their work, how they first got involved in spoken word, and what makes it such a thrilling literary genre. And in the spirit of spoken word performance, we asked them to film their responses.
Michael “BeWyrd” Clarke is a slam poet based in Tio’tia:ke and the president of the Throw! Poetry Collective, which showcases competitive yet friendly bilingual poetry slams every first Saturday at Le Basement in Montreal. He has a Master’s degree in Educational Technology and is also a musician, livestreamer, and martial artist.
Caitlin Murphy is a writer, director, and dramaturg. She has performed in one-woman shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, and a web-series she created called Mothers Try. Caitlin has also written and directed plays and short films. She was also a finalist for the 2022 QWF Spoken Word Prize.
Deb Vanslet is a media artist, storyteller, and writer. Her videos explore storytelling and performance. Deb hosted Dykes on Mykes, CKUT-FM for 16 years. She is a co-producer of Confabulation, live storytelling. She won the 2015 carte blanche Prize (“Self-Serve”), and “Ghost Station” was published in The Malahat Review.
Here are five questions for BeWyrd, Caitlin Murphy, and Deb Vanslet:
The 2024 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize
The 2024 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize is accepting submissions until July 2, 2024. Eight finalists will be announced in the fall, and up to three prizes of $1,000 each will be awarded at the 2024 QWF Literary Awards Gala on November 12. The prize is open to Quebec-based spoken word artists, storytelling artists, and literary performance artists working in English in any form of performative writing, including poetry, story, monologue, hip hop, dub, sound poetry, experimental or interdisciplinary work.