Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? And fittingly so, the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival makes its return this month.  There will be 27 events and over 100 artists from all corners of the world performing in the cities Banff, Calgary, Canmore, and Edmonton.

The theme this year is Cabaret, to tantalize the audience with Moulin Rouge style performances. Sheri-D, Director of the Festival and a performer herself, is quick to remind us that Spoken Word Festivals originated in cabarets.

“I wanted to respect the past,” says Sheri-D. “We have really worked on bringing the performers from the past back to Calgary this year. Before it was just another cabaret act, and then it made a medium of its own. Spoken word has always been and an outside voice.”

The performers this year vary in many ways. Sheri-D is quite excited about this diversity, but was rather surprised at some similarities. “Most of the Festival is gay and I didn’t plan that! These individuals are hot artists. There is quite a bit of gender bending in the Festival.”

Baby Dee is one such performer. She is a performance artist, songwriter, classically trained harpist, circus veteran, and street legend. She has worked in the circus on Coney Island, and as an organist in a Catholic Church in the Bronx. She is definitely not to be missed.

Sini Anderson is another gay artist performing at the Festival. She is a performance artist, poet, producer, and director that is the co-founder of Sister Spit, and an all-girl, open-mic series that took San Francisco by storm. She has served as the Artistic Director for the National Queer Arts Festival, a co-producer for the Nectar stage at San Francisco Pride, a member of the Board of Directors for the Harvey Milk Institute, and CO-Chair of the Queer Cultural Centre.

Billie Nickerson is not sure how his past as a competitive junior curler has impacted his career as a poet, but he is sure it has.  He is an accomplished writer with published works such as the Asthmatic Glass Blower, Let Me Kiss it Better, Elixirs for the Not So Straight and Narrow, and McPoems.

Alberta’s own, Edmonton based spoken word artist T.I. Cowan is also making an appearance at the Festival. He performed in Canada and internationally for the past 10 years, and his work has been seen in Push Magazine, Benton Writing: Contemporary Queer Tales, and Notebook Magazine. You may have caught his queer, tent-based performance called Camp; Summer Vacation at the High Performance Rodeo.

These four performers are only a tiny portion of the list of acts this year.

If you are unsure of what exactly spoken work is, it is explained by CISWF as “encompass[ing] work, languages, rhythm, sound, music, and beat. It is written and presented in the voice and tone of the people. It is for the people.  It is for the community.”

Spoken word is taking new and different forms with the advancement of technology. Banff to the World – Live To The Web on April 14th will integrate the faculty members of the Spoken Word Program and South Africa’s Kobus Moolman in creating instant art – unrehearsed.

Sheri-D is looking forward to the largest Festival to date.

“We are acknowledging Muslim women, underrepresented voices, political action, and a strong component of the queer voice. It’s appealing, appalling, fabulous, and slightly shocking. It is Cabaret! Expect the unexpected!”