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Richmond performance poet gears up to release first album

From passion to profession, Richmond’s Angelica Poversky is turning her love for poetry into more than just a pleasurable pastime.
Angelica Poversky
Angelica Poversky. Photo: Submitted

From passion to profession, Richmond’s Angelica Poversky is turning her love for poetry into more than just a pleasurable pastime.  

This year, Poversky has, among other notable achievements, laid down the first tracks on her soon-to-be-released album and toured Canada with her poetry trio.

Poversky is not an unfamiliar name in Richmond - she was a former member of a local improv troop called “Richmond in 3D,” participated in the Diversity talent show at the Gateway Theatre, a winner of the 2015 Richmond Arts Award and has been featured in the Richmond News numerous times.

Her budding interest for spoken-word poetry began when she joined the poetry club at McMath secondary; she then attended the Hullabaloo youth poetry festival and started going to poetry slams (a competition in which poets perform spoken word poetry).

But Poversky soon realized that slam poetry was “too restricting with its rules and time limits” and wanted to “work outside of that and explore other options.”

Her most recent artistic accomplishment is releasing the initial tracks on her new, original spoken-word album.

“The working title for the album is ‘Living Memorials’ and its theme is about bringing the past into the present and carrying the present into the future,” explained Poversky.

The full album is set to be released in January of 2019 and will include 10 to 12 tracks of spoken-word poetry that are infused with elements of rap, hip hop and clowning and each accompanied by video and soundtrack.  

“This is a new thing for me, all of my past slam poetry performances have been without music, so it’s exciting to create,” added Poversky.

Three other artists behind the album are producer Moses Clyde Caliboso and artistic director Rhé, who are both from Richmond, and film maker Merissa Victor.  

“Entropy of Forgiveness”- the title of one of the tracks - is about self-acceptance and overcoming internal doubts.

The music video for this track was released in January and was chosen as a winner for the Inspire Mental Wellness challenge hosted by Adobe 1324 and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.

Poversky is also a part a poetry trio named the Tiny Tricycle Poets; along with Andrew Warner and Emma Field, the three are devoted to bridging the gap between spoken word and play and has toured across 25 Canadian cities in the summer of 2018.

When asked about the spoken-word poetry community in Richmond, Poversky said that “there are a lot of people in Richmond who write poetry, but there are no consistent poetry events here, so it’s hard to have that community.

“It’s important to understand one’s worth as an artist. Although it’s nice that I’m no longer being paid in Starbucks gift cards. I performed for free for a long time and a lot of artists are still expected to donate their craft.”