our featured writers
Gloria Blizzard
GLORIA BLIZZARD is an award-winning Black Canadian woman of multiple heritages. Music, dance, science, spirit, and culture intersect in her work, which has won the Malahat Review Nonfiction Prize, and been nominated the prestigious Pushcart prize. Essays, reviews and poems have been published by the CBC, the Globe and Mail, Wasafiri International Contemporary Writing and World Literature Today. Gloria holds an MFA from the University of King’s College and has recently released a book of essays, Black Cake, Turtle Soup, and Other Dilemmas: essays on music, memory and motion, published by Dundurn Press.
Joshua "Scribe" Watkis
Scarborough-born poet JOSHUA “SCRIBE” WATKIS has performed Spoken Word and Hip-Hop across Canada; opening for Hip-Hop legends like Saukrates and The Roots. He was a four-time finalist at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, winning the national championship in 2019. Scribe has authored two chapbooks and was featured on the first Spoken Word Audiobook on Audible: Power In Poetry; Moods That Move. Most recently, he curated and hosted ‘The Old Black Maple’, for the NAC’s debut Hip-Hop Theatre Festival. By sharing his story he hopes to help audiences share their own, in their words, out loud.
Sign Up for the Open Mic!
The open mic to kick off our shows has become one of BlackLit Durham's most popular segments. If you want to touch the mic (one poem each, 5 min. maximum, unless the poems are less than two minutes each, then two poems is acceptable), our sign-up sheet opens at 6:30 pm, with the open mic beginning at 7 pm SHARP. First come, first served, limited slots available. Let's hear you SPIT YOUR FIRE, Ajax!
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