We probably say this every year and every year we mean it: this year’s festival will blow your heart and mind wide open.
MON, APRIL 9th, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL SLAM SEMI-FINALS
7PM, DOORS AT 6:300PM @ the VEC, 1415 Broad St, Victoria, BC
Kicking off the festival this year’s semis features 9 teams from across the south island as they battle for finals stage. $5
TUES, APRIL 10th, 2018
WORKSHOP – SABRINA BENAIM
5PM – 6:30PM @ CITY STUDIO, 742 Johnson St, Victoria BC
Victoria Poetry Project: Tongues of Fire & Vic Slam and Victorious Voices Festival are thrilled to offer a youth spoken word workshop with Sabrina Benaim!
Sabrina Benaim is the author of the poetry collection Depression & Other Magic Tricks & one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time, whose poem “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” has become a cultural phenomenon with over 60,000,000 views. Sabrina has competed in many poetry slams, most notably as a member of the 2014 National Championship Toronto Poetry Slam team & as the 2015 Toronto representative at the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Sabrina has published with ESPNW & made her TV debut in 2016, writing & voicing the third instalment of Sport Chek’s Olympic Manifesto commercial series. Sabrina facilitates writing & spoken word workshops all over North America to groups of all ages, focusing on the ways stigma stops us from connecting with one another & the mental health benefits of a daily writing practice.
Open to folks 24 years old and under. Space is limited, please pre-register. $5-10 sliding scale, free for registered competitors (have your coach email us to confirm your spot).
STILL VICTORIOUS ALUMNI SHOWCASE feat. Jillian Christmas!
7:30PM, DOORS AT 7:00PM @ Caffe Fantastico, 965 Kings St (Quadra Village), Victoria BC
Over the last 9 years we have had many amazing poets come up through Victorious Voices. On Tuesday, April 10th, we will showcase some of these awesome poets at Caffe Fantastico. The line-up includes past Victorious Voices and Hullabaloo Champions, Vic Slam team members, Youth Poet Laureates and poets who’ve gone on to make a big impact in the local spoken word community.
Featuring:
Hannah Berry
Sam Ferraby
Juniper Mae Gittens
Logan Simonson
Maita Cienska
and more to be announced!
About our stellar feature:
Jillian Christmas was born and raised in Markham, Ontario. She currently lives on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam people (Vancouver, BC.), where she serves as Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words. Jillian is an enthusiastic organizer and activist in the Canadian arts community, her focus being to increase anti-oppression initiatives in spoken word. She has participated in, developed and executed programs in partnership with Toronto Poetry Project, Wordplay, Brendan McLeod’s Travelling Slam, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Opera, and the CULTCH Mentorship, and facilitated spoken word workshops for youth and adults across the country.”
$6-10 sliding scale, free for registered poets and coaches.
WED, APRIL 11th, 2018
HIGH-SCHOOL SLAM FINALS feat. SABRINA BENAIM!
7PM, DOORS AT 6:300PM @ the VEC, 1415 Broad St, Victoria, BC
THIS IS IT. The top 4 teams from semis compete for the championship title. With feature performances by Sabrina Benaim and this year’s Alumni of Honour (TBA!), it will be an evening you won’t want to miss. $10 for presale tickets, $5 for high school students at the door (cash only), free for registered poets and coaches.
