Spoken Word

Last week on Apt613 Live, an interview with storyteller Jeff Wright, who will be bringing his How to Make Love in a Canoe to the NAC on April 21st. Tune in to Apt613 Live on Tuesdays from 6pm on CHUO 89.1FM.

Mark Bulgutch, award-winning reporter and author of That’s Why I’m a Journalist, is coming to the capital on April 19th to discuss the future of Canadian journalism with Carleton professor Chris Waddell. In anticipation of the event at the Octopus Books’ Centretown location, Apt613 chatted with Bulgutch in a phone interview about steak and potatoes, […]

The Limerick Coarse, often vulgar verse, whose comic metre is sure- -ly compensating. Innuendo and comic verse such as this filled Poetic Intentions‘ third themed poetry reading at Chez Lucien on March 28. To prepare for the evening, host and founder Tiah Akse—riffing off an episode of The Debaters—encouraged writers to pit haiku and limericks […]

The manic pixie dream billboard of Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama hugging in Sandy Hill (thanks CBC!) just might have brought sunlight back to Ottawa. We may not have state dinners, but we are beaming with endless arts and culture festivals, shows, and outdoor adventures. Sunny ways are back, baby! Versefest, Ottawa’s international poetry festival, […]

The first weekend of September is upon us, and with it the schools mercifully take back the children and the rest of the city amps up their enthusiasm for complaining about the impending weather. There’s lots of art and music to take in this weekend, with some mini festivals and comedy to balance things out. […]

Released earlier this year, R.I.P. Ms. Focus is dedicated to the life of a recently departed 2001 5-speed, 4-door Ford Focus sedan. Ottawa-based spoken word artist V (Vanessa Rotondo) recently released an album, Watch Your Driving, a Spoken Word Album by V. The recording was partially funded by the City of Ottawa and Ontario Arts […]

The weekend is here, the weather is great, and there are a whole lot of awesome things happening in the city – it’s good news, all around. There is a vernissage happening for Graphis, tonight at Studio Sixty Six. This is a great opportunity to check out some of the work of our local graphic […]

This weekend kicks off NAC’s Ontario Scene festival that runs until May 10 and showcases 600 Ontario artists from all disciplines. Tonight, you can check out Next Wave: Bondar, Boonie Doon and The Yips playing Club SAW as part of the opening for SAW’s exhibit with Michael Forge titled All Dogs are Dogs. It’s also […]

True to form, the arrival of spring has brought with it spring showers. A weekend of rain may be in store for us this week, but we’ve got plenty going on to brighten up the mood. Head over to Ritual Nightclub tonight, for a hip hop showcase from the 613 to the 416. The Home […]

This weekend was quick to arrive after the Easter break and we are back at it with another weekend full of greatness. Get Fresh tonight at Babylon, with a showcase of Ottawa’s hip hop community. There will be performances by Lost Kids, Ivan Ndikuriyo, and Cee Craig Thorn and beat showcases by Prophet-One One-Produkshuns and […]

Welcome to the first weekend of…spring? Ok, so, just because it is technically “spring”, doesn’t mean that it necessarily feels like it. We can’t promise this weekend’s weather will be any warmer, but we can promise plenty of fun stuff happening in the city. Oz Kafe kicks off the weekend tonight with Reggae Night. Join […]

Haneen Alhassoun was 9 years old when she began writing poetry, in Arabic, about her homeland of Palestine. She wrote so many poems that her mother used to tease her, calling her names of Palestinian politicians. For Haneen, poetry was a means of expression that, at that young age, she wasn’t taking seriously and, eventually, she […]

If you are a lover of poetry then this coming week will bring a smile to your face.  VERSeFest, Ottawa’s annual poetry festival, starts on Tuesday, March 24, and runs until next Monday, March 30. To help celebrate this gathering of talented wordsmiths, Apartment613 is launching today Poetry Week, which will include extensive coverage of […]

Jenny Meya was first introduced to poetry in the sixth grade. Stanzas, falling meter, iambic pentameter – at first these things meant little to Jenny, who had always wanted to be a dancer. Jenny had always told stories through dance. It wasn’t until she started middle school that she discovered her passion for telling stories […]