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In this collection of poems, Andrea Thompson investigates the intersection of page and stage, and the evolution of spoken word as a hybrid form of literary orature. Thompson’s collection blurs the space between public and private, while excavating the influence of Black North American history, art and culture on contemporary poetics. From the slave songs and spirituals of the cotton fields of the Old South, to the smoky coffee houses of the Harlem Renaissance, to today’s slam stages and rap battles, these poems elevate the written and spoken word as vehicles for individual empowerment, collective agency and social justice. Thompson asks us: Why speak? Why write? And then takes us on a journey spanning decades, generations and cultures in the exploration of possible answers.

In the early autumn of 2021, I began an adventure of listening to the Humber River and writing poems in response. The result was my contribution to riverMOUTH – a project by Urbanvessel that combines spoken word, song, music & soundscape in response to the lower Cobechenonk / Humber River in Toronto. Download the riverMouth audio experience and read the poems this project inspired (via Echoes on Google Play or Apple App store). Explore the park as you listen — from plant medicine, ecology and architecture, to soundscape and song.

AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets which brings together some of Canada's most influential dub, page, and spoken word poetic voices and gives them space to speak freely about their personal journeys in piercing verse and unapologetic prose.

Edited by A. Gregory Frankson, with contributions by Afua Cooper, Reed Jones, Truth Is …, Thandiwe Mccarthy, Evelyn C. White, Webster (Aly Ndiaye), Andrea Thompson, Chloé Savoie-Bernard, Dwayne Morgan, Jamaal Jackson Rogers, Knowmadic, George Elliott Clarke, Olive Senior, Asante Haughton, Rodney St. Éloi, Valerie Mason-John, Wayde Compton, Bertrand Bickersteth, Cicely Belle Blaine.

Now available online & in stores!

The Good Word

New Spoken Word Album
Now Available!

Past Events:

Shortlisted:

THE ROBERT KROETSCH AWARD
FOR INNOVATIVE POETRY

Longlisted:

THE PAT LOWTHER &
RAYMOND SOUSTER AWARDS

PATH TO CREATION:
A YES TV series with host, Igal Hecht

2020-2022 Events:

RIVERMOUTH:

AfriCANthology:

Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets

© Andrea Thompson

2023

EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS