Tuesday, February 11, 2025 (Zoom): Celebrating Black Futures
This Black History Month, join the League on Zoom with poets Tawhida Tanya Evanson and Phanuel Antwi for Celebrating Black Futures, a poetry performance and open mic.
All are welcome to attend, but open mic readers must identify at Black.
First come, first served open mic signup will take place at the start of the event.
The League does not tolerate any form of hate speech or discrimination, and staff will be present to actively monitor the chat as well as readers' content. We encourage our members from equity-deserving groups to attend and participate, including black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and LGBTQI2S+ poets.
Registration is required; the event will not be recorded.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | 8pm ET
Tawhida Tanya Evanson
Phanuel Antwi
Tawhida Tanya Evanson is a poet, novelist, artist and Ashiq known for her work blending poetry, orality, music and multimedia. Born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, she performs internationally, has produced five audio recordings, six short films and the award-winning Afrofuturist concert film CYANO SUN SUITE, which premiered in 2024. Evanson has two published poetry collections and her debut novel Book of Wings won the 2022 CAM/Blue Metropolis New Contribution Prize. Her French autotranslation Livre des ailes was published in 2023. Evanson's work explores themes of African diasporic identity and Sufi spirituality, and she has received acclaim at home and abroad for her captivating performances and unique approach to poetry. She produces multimedia events as Mother Tongue Media, is recognized for her role as director of the Banff Centre Spoken Word program and is current president of the Quebec Writers' Federation. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.
Phanuel Antwi is a poet, literary cultural critic, and researcher in the field of critical Black studies. He is an associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia. In 2022 he was named Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies. He writes, researches, and teaches in critical Black studies, settler colonial studies, Black Atlantic and diaspora studies, Canadian literature and culture since 1763, critical race, gender and sexuality studies, and material culture. He has published articles in Small Axe, Interventions, and Studies in Canadian Literature, and has curated art exhibits at the Vancouver Art Gallery and at the Libby Leshgold Gallery at Emily Carr University. His book, On Cuddling: Loved to Death in the Racial Embrace, was published in 2023 by Pluto Press, and he is completing a second book, Currencies of Blackness: Cheerfulness, Faithfulness, and Politeness in Settler Writing.