Spoken Word Poetry: Resistance and Resilience Course for 20s and 30s @ Lishma

Together we will both learn from the poems of powerful spoken word artists and write and share our own pieces of poetry.

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Spoken Word Poetry: Resistance and Resilience
with Ayla Lefkowitz

Join us for a 6-week course as we dive into the art of spoken word poetry from a Jewish lens! Spoken word poetry is an art-form meant to be shared in community. Together we will both learn from the poems of powerful spoken word artists and write and share our own pieces of poetry. Spoken word is an art-form based in social justice and giving back power to voices and stories often overlooked. For this reason, this course will focus on topics related to Jewish identity and ancestry, social justice and solidarity, and resilience. Each week we will explore a different topic through spoken word, write our own poems and share what we are comfortable sharing. Spoken word is not like the poetry we learned in school, spoken word poems are written in our own voice and language – no Shakespearean pros, rhyming or any experience necessary!

Ayla Lefkowitz is a Toronto-based poet, educator, social entrepreneur, and mamma. In 2017, Ayla came in first at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and has been featured at several local events include Toronto Poetry Slam, International Festival of Authors, Word on the Street and WordSpell. Many of Ayla’s poems explore Jewish ancestry, intergenerational trauma, gender, and social justice. She released her first book of poetry titled Armour, and has been published in the journal of Canadian Woman Studies, Oratorealis, and Living Hyphen. Ayla is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of CANVAS Arts Action Programs (www.canvasprograms.com), a charity that uses arts-based education to prevent sexual violence, homophobia, and transphobia.