Spoken word poets bare all emotions at national championships in Saskatoon
Beat poet vet encourages youth to 'take the leap,' try spoken word poetry
The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is happening right now in Saskatoon. Beat poets from across the country are competing against each other for the chance to be crowned national champions.
So far, according to beat poet Paulina O'Kieffe, the competition has been fierce, and it'll only get more intense with the finals for the competition taking place tonight.
"It's extremely emotionally raw," she said. "People are coming from all across Canada expressing emotions, views, histories, stories, and that can get pretty raw for most people," especially since beat poets are digging deep into their own personal experiences.
O'Kieffe is from Toronto, and is part of the Up From The Roots team. A poem she spoke on Wednesday night was called Hyenas, in which she spoke to her experiences in Grade 10 of being objectified and "treated like a piece of meat" by her male classmates.
I practice in front of a wall, so it's literally like I'm looking at a screen from history.- Paulina O'Kieffe
She said that part of the process is tapping back into what her mind set was in Grade 10 ,and conveying the emotion she wanted to convey.
"I practice in front of a wall, so it's literally like I'm looking at a screen from history, and I'm taking myself back into history in a time portal," she said in describing how she delivers the poetry. "I'm seeing the lockers, and I'm seeing my old high school, and I'm seeing the faces of the guys and the cat calls."
Performing such an emotional piece requires some time to come down afterward: "I was literally shaking after the performance," she said.
The part she loves most about spoken word poetry is the fact it creates space on stage "for you to be the most realest person in that moment. No matter what mask you're hiding, or if you're trying to hide yourself from the real world. You can't do that on stage."
O'Kieffe and her team will be competing tonight in the competition's finals, starting at 7:00 p.m. CST at the Third Avenue United Church.
With files from CBC's Eric Anderson