“The Calgary Spoken Word Society was formed in November, 2003 for the primary purpose of presenting an annual Calgary International Spoken Word Festival (CISWF). With great pride we are happy to announce that the first annual CISWF was a remarkable success! The CISWF was conceived and created by a native Calgarian, internationally acclaimed Spoken Word poet, Sheri-D Wilson. Influenced by the passion of its creator, the Calgary Spoken Word Society’s vision is to make Calgary the epicenter of this energetic and increasingly popular art form.”

Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada
http://www.calgaryspokenwordfestival.com/

“The CFSW is a festival of Spoken Word and Poetry that hosts artists from across Canada and international guests to celebrate and promote Spoken Word performance, to expand and cultivate the audience for this work, and to inspire networking between artists and organizers from various regions of Canada in order to foster a growing and interdependent national community of Spoken Word artists…. In 2004, the Festival Began as the Canadian Spoken Wordlympics.”

Date: held in October
past festivals in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto,  Canada
http://wordolympics.com/

“Capital Slam is Ottawa’s monthly slam poetry series. It was founded in October 2004 by Elissa Molino and Greg “Ritallin” Frankson, two members of the team that represented Ottawa at the 2004 Canadian Spoken Wordlympics.”

CapitalSlam.com is the online home of the Capital Poetry Collective: Ottawa's Spoken Word Society. Sign up for their “email list”http://capitalslam.com/mailman/listinfo/cpcevents_capitalslam.com

Date: Monthly at Cafe Dekcuf, 221 Rideau Street 2nd floor. See email list for times.
Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.capitalslam.com/

“Chatterbook is a 30 minute radio segment that I host and produce on CFRC 101.9 FM which operates out of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Chatterbook’s goal is to provide informative (and inspiring) spoken word programming that focuses on Canadian literature and corollary subjects.”—Rachel

Broadcasts are archived as mp3 podcasts available online.

Queen’s University in Kingston,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.chatterbook.ca/

“… Four Horsemen/Live in the West captures the aural essence of a Four Horsemen reading and approximates the raw experience of the group-audience interaction so vital to the quartet’s effect and so lacking in the technological “purity” of a studio recording. This disc stands as a record of a reading - three readings, in fact: one at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, one at the Western Front in Vancouver, and one at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, all of them occurring within four days of each other in February, 1974.”

“The Four Horsemen are Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Paul Dutton, Steve McCaffery and bp Nichol.”

Canada
http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/horsemen/

“ANIMATION SOUND POETRY DANCE THEATRE EXTRAVAGANZA. Conceived and Directed by Kate Alton and Ross Manson. Based on poetry of the Four Horsemen: Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Paul Dutton, Steve McCaffery, and bpNichol. Starring Jennifer Dahl, Graham McKelvie, Noako Murakoshi, and Andrea Nann.”

“What is a poem? In the 1970s, four Canadian sound poets turned the literary world on its ear. Now, director Ross Manson and choreographer Kate Alton have teamed up to bring us a playful tribute to the poetry of The Four Horsemen and a cheeky love-in with the swinging seventies. An outtasight, multi-media extravaganza with dance, song, video and animation that everyone can dig! So far out, it’s back in.”

Date: Running: March 13 - April 1, 2007,
Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC), Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.gctc.ca/seasons/06-07/horsemen.html

“Poet, novelist, essayist, reviewer, editor, teacher … Trickster, jester, performer, historian, cultural critic.” Among Rhenisch’s many offerings are MP3 samples from his CDs plus morsels from his writing workshops.

150 Mile House,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.haroldrhenisch.com/

“On January 31, 2007, 72 poets will converge on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia where they will duke it out poetically until one remains standing as the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion!!! … IWPS is an international Poetry Slam competition featuring 72 of the world’s best poetry slammers, competing for cash, publication honours, and bragging rights…. This is the first Individual World Poetry Slam Championship ever held outside of the US, the first in Canada….”

Date: Annual. Next: January 31, 2007 - February 4, 2007 in Vancouver (place changes each year)
Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.individualworldpoetryslam.com/

The Max Middle Sound Project has been described as “earnest avoidance of shock and awe spectacle or just plain egregious unruliness.”

Here you can find poetry recordings, some vispo, and Max Middle’s blog.

Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.maxmiddle.com/

“This year’s theme is …. Poetry: Future (In)tense. What will poetry sound like in the future? What is a techno-poem? How will poetry fuse with other art forms like theatre or music? Instead of science-fiction, what would science-poetry sound like? …”

“Established in Canada in April 1999 by the League of Canadian Poets, National Poetry Month brings together schools, publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, and poets across the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in Canada’s culture. Communities and businesses participate through readings, festivals, book displays, and other events.”

• Young Poets’ Week Initiatives: April 9-15th 2007
• Canada Poetry Fact Sheet
• Events Calendar

Date: April 2007: readings and events across Canada
Canada
http://www.poets.ca/linktext/npm.htm

“The nth digri has performed in Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. He founded and produced a popular urban poetry series in Ottawa, the Golden Star Lounge, and led a contingent to Chicago for the National Poetry Slam…. He most recently directed, hosted, and performed in a UNESCO event in Ottawa for World Poetry Day featuring Lillian Allen and George Elliott Clarke. His forays into slam poetry saw him become the 2004 Ottawa slam champion, and the founder of the 2004 Canadian Spoken Wordolympics, the first ever national slam poetry tournament in Canada.”

Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.geocities.com/nthdigri/index.html

“The Official Web Site of Oni The Haitian Sensation.”

Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.mesooni.com/

“A celebration of poetry and literacy in cities across Canada, the UK, and Ireland… The second annual Random Acts of Poetry week is a Canadian initiative that promotes poetry, poets and literacy in a fresh way to everyday people in their everyday lives. This year (October 3rd-9th, 2006), 27 poets from across Canada will be joined by 10 poets from England, Scotland and Ireland, making the event truly international after only one year. Watch for local poets from your community reading poems to people on the street, at bus stops, schools, libraries, hair salons and in local schools.”

Date: Annual. Previous: October 3rd-9th, 2006
Canada
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/randomactsofpoetry/index.shtml

“Greg debuted his Ritallin persona at an Ottawa spoken word event in summer 2003. Since he began performing regularly in winter 2004, Ritallin has developed a reputation for delivering powerful poetry in a way that is lyrically appealing, widely accessible and unapologetically provocative in its socially conscious message. Greg has always written about issues that matter, including social justice, racism, the plight of Afrikans across the Diaspora, and empowerment of the disenfranchised…. He co-founded Capital Slam with fellow poet Elissa Molino. Held during the second week of each month, the event is Ottawa’s slam-tastic monthly poetry series…. In October 2006, Greg became the National Director of Spoken Word Canada (SpoCan), the organization responsible for coordinating the annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.”

Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://ritallin.com/

“The Mama of Dada—sheri-d wilson (poet, playwright, performer, film-maker, essayist, and educator) is Internationally renowned for her jazz infused performance style laced with a dangerous wit.”

Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada
http://www.sheridwilson.com

“The Six Nations Writers are the storytellers of today who will share their stories with all who enter this site. We all share a common literary goal to carry on our ancestral storytelling tradition through our written words.”

Features: Meet the writers | Young voices | Onkwawennahson’a Our Voices Spoken Word CD

Six Nations of the Grand River,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.sixnationswriters.com/

“TEXT is a conceptual art/media project that encourages artists’ off every medium to find inspiration through words and art as a whole. The concept is simple and unique: Through 1 chosen piece of text, 10 artists’ will express the text’s message through their art medium and will be given 2 weeks each (in sequence) to create the text and the art that preceded them as they see fit.”

“We are seeking visual and performance artists, writers, designers, and beyond. Beyond can be chefs, carpenters, fashionistas etc…”

See also the Facebook group TEXT Refashion: Project 2.

Date: Your deadline to submit your interest is March 20, 2008
Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://homepage.mac.com/msoulard/Submission%20Call.htm

“Grants are for the creation, production, performance, broadcast or promotion of spoken word and storytelling.”

Canada

“In July 2005 - 17 International Spoken Word artists and organizers met at The Banff Centre for the Arts, forming a lobby group and network to further the development of Spoken Word in Canada and Internationally… As a collective this group, called SWAN (Spoken Word Arts Network), will function not only as artists but also as activists. “

SWAN also has a Poets Database: “Our database of poets is sure to get your attention. We are compiling a database of poets around the world and if you are a working poet, please feel free to join.”

Canada
http://www.spokenwordarts.net/

“Spoken Word Audiobooks is a retail store specializing in the sale of books on cassette tape ( and CD ). We’re located in downtown Toronto and carry several thousand audio titles from over a hundred different publishers.”

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.spoken-word.com/

“Eye Weekly first launched in Oct. 1991, Toronto only had three daily papers, one weekly and no internet.” Now you can keep tabs online of weekly Spoken Word listings.

Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.eye.net/arts/word/index.php

“The Golden Star Lounge (GSL) is a monthly spoken word poetry series featuring professional spoken word poets with an urban flavour. The shows, which also include performances by musicians and singers, usually take place on the last Friday of each month. The series was founded by Anthony Bansfield and Moses Abraham in 2002, and is currently in its 4th year of operation. Our series provides an environment where artists can speak to an audience in a dynamic and accessible way about relevant issues and ideas. From the way Ottawa audiences have responded, it is a guiding vision which resonates with a good many people, particularly in Ottawa’s Black community…”

Date: last Friday of the month, usually at the East African Restaruant
Ottawa,  Ontario,  Canada
http://www.geocities.com/nthdigri/goldenstar.htm

“Vancouver Poetry House is a new organization dedicated to the growth and development of poets and poetry of all kinds in Vancouver, British Columbia…. [B]y providing our community with a “house” to dwell in, VPH hopes to strengthen the presence and effect of poetry in the lives of every Vancouver-area resident, regardless of age, class, ethnicity, or language of choice.”

Vancouver,  British Columbia,  Canada
http://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/

“Wired on Words: a website for words designed to be heard… Wired on Words is an award winning record label that documents the best of the spoken word scene.”

Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada
http://www.wiredonwords.com/

“In the present Ubuweb collection of ethnopoetic openings, it’s our intention to build a sampler of what we take to be the second great breakthrough of the modernist poetry project. The search here is for a range of poetries outside the domain of customarily accepted literature. In particular we’re interested, in the spirit of other segments of Ubuweb, in soundings and visionings that are the traditional and often culturally acceptable counterparts to what in our own surroundings have been seen and heard as radical, even disturbing departures from conventional practice. In exploring these we will also be mindful of occasions on which the avant-garde experimental line has merged with or deliberately drawn from other culturally specific traditions.” —Jerome Rothenberg, October 2002

International
http://www.ubu.com/ethno/index.html

Apples & Snakes is “England’s leading organisation for performance poetry.”

U.K. (England)
http://www.applesandsnakes.org/

Hundreds of new online rhyming poems for everyone, but especially children, with voice recordings, by Yorkshire writer, Josie Whitehead. From this site, access lesson plans, articles, games and crafts for children, and Skype visits from Josie.

Yorkshire,  U.K. (England)
http://www.whiteheadm.co.uk/html/josies_poetry.htm

“The Poetry Cubicle’s founding aims are to explore, interpret, document, preserve and archive ‘poetry’ in its myriad, and hybrid, forms, expressions and states, and to provide access to such artistic expressions through the physical and digital realms to as wide an audience as possible.”

See also The itinerant Poetry Librarian weblog.

Norwich,  U.K. (England)
http://www.thepoetrycubicle.org.uk/indexTPC.html

e-poets.network — “where spoken word lives on the web”

New media features include the Incomplete History of Slam, the e-poets library, the Book of Voices, and Videotheque.

Chicago, Illinois,  United States
http://e-poets.net/

“The poetry, essays, videos, music and life of spoken word artist Cassandra Tribe. Updated frequently with recent releases, performance schedules and daily blog.”

Cassandra Tribe at MySpace

Albuquerque, New Mexico,  United States
http://loveandwords.com