By KIRSTEN BOLTON
FOR ARTSPRING
They say some artists happen to be in the right place at the right time to slip through an open door. There are other artists who stand in front of a closed door and choose to kick it open. Enter Shane Koyczan.
In the rise of spoken word’s popularity, the genre cannot be discussed without saying the name Shane Koyczan, an unlikely Canadian success story.
In 2010, the world caught a glimpse of Koyczan’s prodigious talent with his presentation at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. This stand-out performance helped shine a light on this street poet from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Born in the Northwest Territories to a Canadian Indigenous father and a French mother, Koyczan grew up in Penticton. He had been an artist, inches away from living on the street, when in 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam competition.
Even in those troubled early times Koyczan was putting out work like the anti-bullying poem based on his life called To This Day, now a video that’s garnered 24 million views and is used worldwide in classrooms as a teaching tool, as well as in speech and forensic competitions.
Koyczan has also published several books, with his second book Stickboy adapted into an opera by Vancouver Opera. His voice has been sought after by luminaries like George Miller, who worked with Koyczan on Mad Max: Fury Road. Koyczan also created the piece called Shoulders, which he toured with David Suzuki as part of The Blue Dot Tour, a movement to enshrine environmental rights in the Canadian Constitution.
A collaborator with artists such as Ani DiFranco, Dan Mangan, Tanya Tagaq and others, Koyczan has elevated the art form of spoken word from its humble beginnings in after-hour cafes and on sidewalks to grand stages far and wide. Despite the venue, he has become known for bringing an authenticity to his work that viscerally connects with audiences, as evidenced by his fiercely honest 2011 TED Talk which received a standing ovation.
Weaving together spellbinding narratives, Koyczan continues to trek through some of the more difficult parts of our collective existence with humour, heart and humanity. In 2017 Koyczan invited audiences deep into family trauma with the documentary Shut Up And Say Something, an emotional trip through his past as he comes to terms with his estranged father. The film went on to win Most Popular Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival, moving audiences with its bravery and vulnerability.
After a number of critical successes in the book world, Koyczan launched his own publishing house, Stickboy Press, whose first collection was brought to life by a crowdfunding campaign in which 1,688 backers pledged $91,154 to make A Bruise on Light a Guinness record holder as the most money raised through crowdfunding for a book of poetry.
A prolific force, he recently released a new collection of poems called The Basement In My Attic, and worked with Theytus Books to publish Inconvenient Skin, a journey into Canada’s own troubled history with residential schools and the treatment of Indigenous people. The themes of Koyczan’s much-anticipated spoken word performance on Tuesday, Feb. 25 are not being released ahead of time to allow for spontaneity and the inclusion of current affairs. Regardless of subject matter, the experience promises to be transformative. This marks the first time ArtSpring has presented spoken word in its season’s programming
Thank you to Paula Palyga and David Demers for sponsoring this performance, which begins at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available through ArtSpring, online and at the box office. Quick purchase is advised.