The Power Plant

Please join us for the Intro to The Sonic of Voice, Sound, and Poetry, led by dub poet and performer Clifton Joseph and composer and poet Jaap Blonk! This is a beginner-friendly workshop for poets, writers and artists drawn to the undeniable power of sound, language and the poetics of sonics combined. Thinking about sound from the perspective of experimentation and new poetics, from the field of Sound Poetry, Spoken Word and Dub Poetry and learning a bit about their histories, “Exploring Voice, Sound and Poetry” will allow writers (and artists) to explore and engage with sound, musicality, and language-play as poetry.

Clifton Joseph is an Antiguan-born dub poet extraordinaire who lives in Toronto and performs solo and with musicians, exploring the intrinsic musicality of words in his poetry. A founding member of the dub poetry movement in Canada, he has performed widely across that country, the USA, the UK, Europe, Egypt and the Caribbean with his sonic-laden wordplay exploring historical and contemporary issues. He's worked in TV, Radio and Film, taught college courses and released books and albums such as Metropolitan Blues and Oral Trans/Missions. His work has been included in a number of anthologies and has garnered wide alternative radio play. He's worked in TV, Radio and Film, taught college courses and released books and albums such as Metropolitan Blues, Oral Trans/Missions His work has been included in a number of anthologies and has garnered wide alternative radio play. His latest album of poetry and music is Shots On Eglinton.

Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Netherlands) is a self-taught composer, vocalist, poet and visual artist. His unfinished studies in mathematics and musicology mainly created a penchant for activities in a Dada vein, as did several unsuccessful jobs in offices and other well-organized systems. In the early 1980s he discovered the power and flexibility of his voice and set out on a long-term research of phonetics and the possibilities of the human voice. At present, he has developed into a specialist in the creation and performance of sound poetry and a unique vocal improviser, supported by a powerful and uninhibited stage presence. He performs and gives workshops worldwide on a regular basis. With the use of live electronics and projection of visuals the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension. To this date Blonk’s music has appeared on 30 CDs with his own Kontrans label; many other recordings as well as about a dozen books with his visual work have been published in several countries.