The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word: Speak UP Ottawa!

Today's show is a break from our usual Wednesday schedule. We are going to be talking to the slam poets that are involved in The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. We are interviewing Jessica Ruano, Nathanael Larochette and Greg Frankson. *The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word* is the countr's pre-eminent literary festival focused on spoken word and slam poetry. CFSW 2010 Ottawa is the seventh annual edition of the festival and its first return visit to the place where it all began. CFSW took place in Vancouver in 2005, Toronto in 2006, Halifax in 2007, Calgary in 2008 and Victoria in 2009. Since the inaugural festival (then called the Canadian Spoken Wordlympics) was held in Ottawa in 2004, CFSW has grown in both stature and participation to include representatives from 15 communities on a record 18 teams (including one Wild Card Team) in the national slam championships. Nathanaël Larochette - CFSW 2010 Ottawa Festival Director Nathanaël is Director of the Capital Poetry Collective, producers of Capital Slam, and was a member of the 2007 and 2008 Ottawa Slam Teams. He performed at the Governor General Literary Awards in 2007, has opened for artists as diverse as Shane Koyczan and Raffi, and won the Ottawa CBC Poetry Face-Off in 2008. He works for an outreach program with Ottawa Public Health and has done much to spread spoken word among the city’s youth. Greg Frankson - Media & Communications Director Greg is co-founder of the Capital Poetry Collective/Capital Slam and the Past National Director of Spoken Word Canada. He has travelled across North America and overseas as an arts educator, performer, speaker and creative services consultant focused on youth issues, anti-discrimination and mental health. Currently Slammaster for Bill Brown’s 1-2-3 Slam, Greg is the only member of the CFSW 2010 Ottawa FOC to have been a member of the 2004 Wordlympics Festival Organizing Committee.