Friday is YOUTH DAY at Festival of Health Research 2014. And as we like to say in the world of slam, “The Youth is on FIRE!”
Probably the fastest growing demographic – physically, emotionally, and poetically – in the poetry slam community is that of poets aged 15 to 22. High school and university students have been pouring into the poetry slam community over the past decade especially. In large part that has been due to the efforts made to create space for young voices through the creation of youth poetry slams, and through the efforts of older poets leading workshops and performing demo slams in high schools. Last year, for the first time, this youth explosion reached new heights in the creation of a national youth tournament, YouthCanSlam. For the first time, youth poets from across the country got together for a poetry slam tournament. But more than that, they got together to inspire and teach one another, and to form artistic and personal bonds that will drive them for years to come!
One such poet, hailing from Vancouver, is Floyd VB, who will be performing on the Friday of Festival of Health Research in “The Youth is On Fire!” showcase. Floyd has been a stalwart of the Vancouver Poetry Slam since they were a high school student, and brings a unique and dynamic voice to the stage. They have been a BC high school champion (Hullabaloo 2012), and they were a two-time national finalist in 2013, once with the Vancouver Youth Slam team at YouthCanSlam, and one with the Van Slam team at Festival of Health Research Montreal. Perhaps most exciting of all, Floyd won the annual Nerd Slam at the National Poetry Slam in Boston. (If that doesn’t sound like a big deal, you really need to see how serious Americans are about their nerd poems.)
We could wax poetic about how incredible Floyd is, because they are, but we feel it’s better for everyone if we let Floyd do the talking:
Floyd will perform during “The Youth is On Fire!”: Friday, October 17, at Rifflandia HQ (1501 Douglas Street) from 4:00 – 6:00 PM.
Floyd VB is a queer youth spoken word artist from who flits and stomps around Vancouver. They have been on one Van Slam team and two Van Slam Youth teams. At National Poetry Slam in Boston, Floyd won the annual Nerd Slam. Floyd speaks on anything from love, to gender identity and sexuality, to high school. They will leave you smelling like a sketchbook dripping ink.