Indigenous poets rock competition
The Saskatoon-based team from The Indigenous Poets Society was the first up with a group poem during its first bout at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Guelph, Ont.
The team’s scores? All higher than 9.5 — which helped propel it to second place in the bout and into the top five after the first day.
“Super intense,” Alex Allary, one of the poets for the team, said. “Alexandra (Jarrett) got up first and stood in her power and rocked her piece and took away some of my anxiety ... The other competitors were very, very good.”
The team has travelled a long way — literally as well as figuratively — to be there for that opening bout on Tuesday night. When a team from The Indigenous Poets Society was invited to apply for the festival, the group had to scramble with a mini-competition of their own to see who they’d be sending.
After that, it was a matter of finding funding to send Allary, Alexandra Jarrett, Keccia Cook, Shawn Joseph, and coach Kevin Wesaquate to Guelph.
And among fellow poets, the support has been impressive.
“Being welcomed and inspired ... we’re all pumping each other up,” Jarrett said. “It’s a competition, but everyone is still really supportive of one another.”
The team — naming themselves Prairie Fire for the event — is comprised entirely of Indigenous poets, and has an Indigenous coach.
Janelle Pewapsconias, who is part of the Indigenous Poets Society but is in Guelph with another poetry team from Saskatoon, said the group does its best to showcase a “variety” of Indigenous perspectives through an art form that can be very personal and exposing.
“Poetry is showing your heart, your soul, your work, your thoughts, for judgment to a crowd — that’s half the battle,” Pewapsconias said. “The other half is trying to do a piece that’s relevant, timely, connecting, and caring in the community of poets that’s present.”
During a bout at the festival, there are certain rules that must be followed: the poetry must be an original work, no props or costumes, no nudity, and the piece must be under three minutes.
The team’s first night was a resounding success — coming within two points of taking first place in the opening bout — and the poets are feeling good about their chances to make it to the semifinals.
Two teams from Saskatoon are taking part this year: Prairie Fire and a team from the group Tonight It’s Poetry. They’ve been staying close together in Guelph, but Allary said the atmosphere among fellow poets has been a great experience.
As Jarrett put it, it’s taken a lot of effort to get to where they are — and it’s paying off for them in their bouts, regardless of how the week ends.