During our HAPPENING: Poetry Nights we celebrate poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers, refugees, or immigrants. Despite the fact that poetry inhabits many geographical locations and speaks in different accents and languages, Literature continues to be the most exclusive of arts and the most resistant against outsiders. An immigrant’s linguistic, cultural, and political accents mark them as alien, and hence, undesirable company or colleague among fellow writers and poets.
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During our HAPPENING: Poetry Nights we celebrate poets who, among other things, identify as newcomers, refugees, or immigrants. Despite the fact that poetry inhabits many geographical locations and speaks in different accents and languages, Literature continues to be the most exclusive of arts and the most resistant against outsiders. An immigrant’s linguistic, cultural, and political accents mark them as alien, and hence, undesirable company or colleague among fellow writers and poets.
Date: Thursday, May 16thTime: 7:00 – 8:00 pm Location: Facebook Live
About the poets:
Leilei Chen
Leilei Chen 莫譯 (pronounced as muo-yee meaning “no translation”) lectures in the Department of English and Film Studies of the University of Alberta. She authors Re-orienting China: Travel Writing and Cross-cultural Understanding. She published the Mandarin versions of Margaret Laurence’s short stories, the traditional and simplified Chinese versions of Nationalism: A Very Short Introduction. She translates contemporary Chinese ecological writing, women’s writings, and poetry. Her translation of poet MA Hui (马辉), I Have Forsaken Heaven and Earth, but Never Forsaken You, is a Frontenac House 2023 Quartet book.
Social media handles:• instagram: leileichenleilei• Facebook: Leilei Chen MoYi• TikTok: @leilei.chenmoyi• X: @leileichenlei
Chro Zand
Chro Zand is a Kurdish Canadian freelance writer who currently lives in Toronto. She is the author of, Chro is My Name, a memoir, published in 2021. Her story of Chro is My Name is included in the School of Continuing Studies program in the University of Toronto curriculum. She has a diplomain Arts and Literature and a Bachler’s degree in Journalism. Chro was born to parents with hearts of gold and raised in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan. She has won an international short story contest. Earlier in Kurdistan, at 16, she received her first award in writing.https://chrozandauthor.com/
About the curator: Bänoo Zan is a poet, translator, essayist, and poetry curator, with more than 300 published pieces and three books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Canada’s most diverse and brave poetry open mic (inception 2012). It is a brave space that bridges the gap between communities of poets from different ethnicities, nationalities, religions (or lack thereof), ages, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, poetic styles, voices, and visions. Bänoo is the co-editor of the poetry anthology: Woman, Life, Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution.
HAPPENING Multicultural Festival is the first and only Toronto festival created by community artists, giving center stage to the talent and skills of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee artists. This multi-arts platform includes music, dance, visual arts, community-engaged arts, storytelling, spoken word, and poetry. HAPPENING gives space to embrace the cultural richness of our city while creating professional development opportunities for artists, as well as offering a platform for organizations to connect, and form meaningful collaborations.
To learn more about HAPPENING Multicultural Festival, visit: http://musearts.ca/happening-multicultural-festival/
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