Hogan's Alley Poetry Festival on Facebook
HOGAN’S ALLEY POETRY FESTIVAL IS THE VOICE OF VANCOUVER’S BLACK COMMUNITY
A celebration of diverse communities in Vancouver through literary performance, spoken word poetry, music and storytelling. The festival will run at various locations from September 23rd – 25th.The Black Dot Roots and Culture Collective with the support of the National Congress of Black Women are collaborating to pay tribute to the heritage and creative contributions of Vancouver's East End community as a part of the city's year-long 125th Anniversary activities. The program of the Hogan's Alley Poetry Festival will highlight the creative contributions of Vancouver’s original black neighbourhood. Events will showcase poetry, music and other forms of artistic expression as well as facilitate space for dialogue and civic engagement.
Vancity Theatre at the Vancouver International Film Centre will be the venue for the opening night reception on Friday, September 23rd The night will feature poetry from Adelene da Soul Poet, a native of Hogan’s Alley and descendant of the Black pioneers of British Columbia; a musical tribute to the women of jazz by the soulful voices of Dalannah Gail Bowen and Thelma Gibson, a historical slideshow and literary performance by Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project founder, author, poet and educator Wayde Compton and the documentary Hogan’s Alley by Andrea Fantona and Cornelia Wyngaarden.
Another exciting event at the Hogan’s Alley Poetry Festival is the PodPlays Episode 6 - Days of Old produced by Neworld Theatre and written by Joy Russell. PodPlays combines sound, story and text. Audience plug into portable media players and step outside where the dialogue and story guide them on a walk through the neighbourhood. In Days of Old, Mr. Trumpet has been playing jazz at the Harlem Nocturne for a long time. He’s stuck outside Rosa’s looking for something to fill his belly. Set in the East End, historical home to Vancouver’s black community, Days of Old moves through a terrain of troubling encounters on a day of losing and finding.
The venues for the Hogan’s Alley Poetry Festival include Vancity Theatre, Hogan’s Alley Café, Jimi Hendrix Shrine, MacLean Park, and Calabash Bistro on Sunday, September 25th for the closing reception.
Full festival passes, event schedules and podplay purchases will be available at this night of educational, creative and celebratory assembly to pay homage to the past as we look forward to the future.