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The Museum of Science, Consulate General of Canada in Boston, and the Poets’ Theatre present an evening of poetry and conversation with renowned writer and Canada's 2021 – 2023 Parliamentary Poet Laureate, Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer.
For one night only, Louise takes the Museum stage for readings of her original works, inspired by her personal experiences and those of her family and community. Halfe, also known by her Cree name Sky Dancer, has received numerous awards including the League of Canadian Poets Raymond Souster Award, the High Plains Book Award, and Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize. This presentation of Halfe’s work celebrates Indigenous People’s Day in the United States and prompts discussion on truth and reconciliation.
The evening will also feature readings from the City of Boston’s current Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, who will also join Louise Bernice Halfe in conversation and Q&A.
Following the program, join us for a reception to meet the artists and continue the conversation.
This program is free, thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Institute.
Separate tickets required
Cost: Free with Pre-Registration
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Wednesday, October 11 | 7:00 pm
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Recommended for: Visitors 18 years of age and older
Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer was raised on Saddle Lake Reserve and attended Blue Quills Residential School. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Regina. She also completed two years of Addictions Counselor Training at St. Albert’s Nechi Institute where she also facilitated the program. She served as Saskatchewan’s Poet Laureate for two years and has traveled for her poetics and presented at numerous conferences. Her books include Bear Bones and Feathers, Blue Marrow, The Crooked Good, Sohkeyihta, awasis-kinky and dishevelled, and more. She has received accolades and awards including honorary doctorates from Wilfred Laurier University, the University of Saskatchewan, and Mount Royal University. She currently serves as the national Parliamentary Library Poet Laureate.
She also serves as an elder or knowledge keeper at the University of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and others. She actively participates in cultural and ceremonial activities relevant to her Plains Cree culture.
Porsha Olayiwola is a native of Chicago who writes, lives, and loves in Boston. Olayiwola is also a performer, educator, and curator who uses afro-futurism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman, and queer diasporas. She is an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the founder of the Roxbury Poetry Festival. Olayiwola is Brown University’s 2019 Heimark Artist-In -Residence as well as the 2021 Artist-in-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She is a 2020 poet laureate fellow with the Academy of American poets. Olayiwola earned her MFA in poetry from Emerson College and is the author of i shimmer sometimes, too. Olayiwola is the current poet laureate for the city of Boston. Her work can be found in or is forthcoming from TriQuarterly Magazine, Black Warrior Review, The Boston Globe, Essence Magazine, Redivider, The Academy of American Poets, Netflix, and elsewhere.
