Join us for Spoken Word Poetry Classes with the Toronto Poetry Project, producers of the Toronto Poetry Slam!

• No previous experience required.
• Please bring your water bottle.

WEDNESDAYS 6:00PM - 7:00PM (see class descriptions below)

Class capacity is 30 participants. 15 spots are being reserved for drop-in participants. Please arrive early to sign-in. Latecomers will not be allowed entrance.

April 3 - Start Writing Spoken Word Poetry
Facilitated by Tanya Neumeyer
Work with the basic elements of writing to start confidently and thoughtfully crafting your poetry. Bring something to write on and a willingness to stretch your comfort zone in a supportive setting.

Tanya Neumeyer is a queer poet and arts educator committed to access and equity. As member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Toronto Poetry Slam Board, Tanya has facilitated poetry workshops for 1000s of people. Tanya's patient and supportive facilitation style empowers people to express themselves boldly, with Weekstyle and confidence.

April 10 – Be Brave Onstage
Facilitated by Charlie Petch
Learn ways to love your embarrassment and get valuable performance feedback from theatre director and slam coach, Charlie Petch. We will warm up with a fun icebreaker and write some new work that will embrace our comedic selves. Part 2 will be performance feedback. Bring a poem or use the freewrite and he will give you kind feedback to ensure you have the tools to capture the attention of any audience.

Charlie C Petch is an award winning playwright, spoken word artist, haiku deathmaster, host and musical saw player. Petch is touring two spoken word theatre pieces, their multimedia piece "Daughter Of Geppetto and their vaudeville play "Mel Malarkey Gets the Bum's Rush" which got "Best of 2017" from Electric City Magazine for the radio play accompanying album "Odes & Acts". They have published books with Wordpress and LyricalMyrical and poems with Descant, The Toronto Quarterly, Matrix and Oratorealis journals. Petch is the creative director of "Hot Damn It's A Queer Slam" a multi-city touring poetry slam series.

April 17 - Writing Within Your Boundaries
Facilitated by Cassandra Myers
In this workshop, you'll learn how to set boundaries for yourself in your writing with emotional sensitivity and self-care practises when approaching hard topics.

Cassandra Myers is a poet with an emerging career in performance poetry. She was the 2015 Femme Youth Poet of the World, awarded the Best Poet at the 2018 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational and a Canadian National Poetry Slam team champion with the 2018 Toronto Poetry Slam team. Cassandra is a momentus force behind the Toronto slam poetry community. She works with Leave Out Violence (LOVE) as the Project Manager for Toronto’s Louder Than A Bomb poetry festival.

Class Location & Arrival Information

• Location: The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts – O’Keefe Lounge
• Entrance: Yonge Street Entrance (located along Yonge Street on the west side of the building halfway between Front St. and Esplanade).
• Doors will open at 5:00 PM
• TO Live Community Class Waiver Form. As a participant, you only need to complete and return this form once. After that, you are eligible to participate in all community classes. Copies of this form are available upon arrival at each class. Alternatively, you may print and complete this form in advance and bring it with you to your first class.
• To Live Community Class Rules & Regulations
• Accessibility: The Yonge Street Entrance has no steps and a button to open the doors. To get from the Yonge Street Entrance to the O’Keefe Lounge there are 9 steps or 1 elevator. Washrooms are located at the O'Keefe Lounge level.
• Questions: Contact us by email at education@tolive.com or call us at 416-368-6161 ext. 8242

Waitlist & Drop-In Information

• Waitlist: If the Eventbrite Registration is full, we encourage you to join the waitlist! We will contact the waitlist with a class reminder and any updates regarding the number of available drop-in spots. If you are not contacted by Eventbrite to join the class, you are welcome to attend as a drop-in participant (first come, first served).
• Drop-ins: Regardless of being on the waitlist, anyone is welcome to arrive as a drop-in participant. We will reserve 15 spots per class for drop-ins and will allow additional drop-ins up to the capacity of the class in case there are cancellations or no-shows.

Check out our other TO Live community classes here!

Yonge Street Entrance