Tickets by donation at the door
*NEW: 2 Performances! March 5, 7-8:30pm & March 6, 8:30-10pm

Interdisciplinary Spoken Word

Words Unzipped 2020 will take the audience through the story of birth and existence to life and her complications. Each artist will weave their stories together to show the audience their triumphs, struggles, and grief. As each artist brings their joy to the stage, music and poetry will blend together and offer healing through their connection to each other and to the hearts of the artists and audience.

Featuring:

Timiro Mohamed
Timiro Mohamed is the City of Edmonton Youth Poet Laureate and second generation Somali-Canadian woman. Her work is a complex exploration of her identity and the ways in which she carries the experiences of those before her. Her practice is based in responsible story telling and is a form of resistance and celebration which centers Black women. Timiro is the recipient of the University of Alberta Festival of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, Outstanding Creative Activity Award. She is the co-author of the chapbook Water and a national spoken word semi-finalist having competed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken word with the 2016 Edmonton Slam Poetry team.

Titilope Sonuga
Titilope Sonuga is an award winning writer and performer who calls both Lagos, Nigeria and Edmonton, Canada, home. The recipient of the Canadian Authors’ Association Emerging Writer Award, and a past Open Society (OSIWA) Foundation Resident Poet on Gorée Island, she is a leading voice in both local and international poetry communities who has travelled extensively as a poet and facilitated workshops across the world. She is the author of three collections of poetry, Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014) and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has released two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). 

Sara Al Souqi
Sara Al Souqi is the author of Water. She is a Palestinian-Canadian Spoken Word artist and the 2016 Edmonton Slam Champion. Her poetry surrounds personal life experiences from the standpoint of a 3rd generation diaspora as well as humanitarian issues that exist in the world around her.   

Ru
Ru is a local singer-songwriter currently studying Psychology at the UofA. Crediting her sound to arists such as Tracy Chapman, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran and Lauryn Hill, you can find her performing her music at local cafes and venues every other week in and around the city. In the upcoming weeks you can find her performing at local venues and events such as Zion. To keep up to date with her performances and new music follow her on all of her socials @RuManyonga!

Karimah
Karimah is a french/english speaking Pop/R&B singer/songwriter with grand prizes at Western Canadian  competitions Polyfonik, Chant’Ouest, and the Memphis Bound blues Challenge. Karimah reached the top 24 on “The Voice Canada” season 5, a.k.a “La Voix” in 2017. Karímah delivers an emotionally rich performances full of fury and hope. Karímah’s music is soulful and dark, highlighted in vivid colour by the vocal defiance of a survivor. Karímah will take you on a cathartic journey, from pop falsettos to vocal crescendos that fill the room and leave you filled with reverence.

Nisha Patel | Curator

Nisha Patel is an award-winning Indo-Canadian poet & artist. She is the City of Edmonton’s Poet Laureate, and the 2019 Canadian Individual Slam Champion. She is a recipient of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund Award. Nisha has three published chapbooks and is forthcoming with her debut collection in 2021. She is also the Executive Director of the Edmonton Poetry Festival. Nisha works to further her goal of building a stronger artistic community through living in her truth. You can find out more about her at nishapatel.ca.

Venue Sponsored by:

Event Sponsored by: