Tetrad Tongues

Gathering in community on the unceded, ancestral, occupied territories of the  xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.

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Join in an evening of interactive poetry produced in partnership with Vancouver Poetry House featuring local artists, Anjalica Solomon, Johnny Trinh, Christopher Tse, and Sarah Wong. Bringing together a diverse group of Asian writers, Tetrad Tongues will be a conversation reflecting on kin, cultural heritage, and intergenerational wisdom. In addition to witnessing the featured writers, audience members will be invited to participate in an exercise to collectively create a poem, allowing an archive of our shared experience of the evening to emerge. 

Artists

Anjalica Solomon



Johnny Trinh
Christopher Tse
Sarah wong

Anjalica Solomon is a genderfluid Desi singer, songwriter, lyricist, pianist, loop pedalist, poet, spoken word artist, organiser and multi-disciplinary performer based in what is colonially known as Vancouver, BC on the stolen and unsurrendered territories of the Coast Salish, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations.  Their poetic work often seeks to proclaim the possibilities of love and resilience. Anjalica is a poet of startling emotional intellect and candour whose work testifies to a deep faith in beauty, the power of nature, and ultimately, the human capacity to salvage integrity, radiance and joy from moments of struggle. In this way, Anjalica Solomon’s poems and performances offer robust visions of hope, tenacity, and love.

Johnny Trinh is a community-engaged artist with practices in: spoken word, theatre, music, movement based on the traditional unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tslei-Waututh Peoples. Johnny holds an MFA in interdisciplinary studies, and is an alumni of the Banff Spoken Word Residency. Johnny is the Artistic Director of Vancouver Poetry House, Founder of Stage to Page Performance Society, and Writer-in-Residence at the Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre.

Christopher Tse (he/him) is a facilitator, writer, and storyteller based in Whitehorse, Yukon. He placed second at both the 2011 Poetry Slam World Cup and 2016 Rio International Poetry Slam, and continues to miss the top of the podium in most areas of his life. He has shared the stage with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Shane Koyczan, and Mustafa the Poet, and his work has appeared on stages, radio stations, and in graffiti worldwide. Christopher is passionate about interrogating the intersections of identity and power through storytelling and art, particularly the role of art in historical and current resistance movements. He has one dog and one sourdough starter.

Sarah Wong is an emerging writer, choreographer, and interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her work emerges from her lived experience as a queer and disabled second-generation Chinese-Canadian woman, focusing on archival processes and accessing embodied intergenerational knowledge. Her works have taken the form of score-based improvisational performances, ritual-based research, site-specific installation, wearable textiles, poetry, film, and multimedia zines. She is devoted to nurturing practices of care, creating and facilitating spaces for bodies to rest. Sarah’s work has been presented in Vancouver by Arts Assembly, Number 3 Gallery, New Works, Hatch Art Gallery, The Dance Centre, IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival, Vines Art Festival, and Boombox, and internationally by Mosaico Danza Interplay Festival (Turin, IT). She is grateful to be part of Dumb Instrument Dance’s production team for ahmm. 

Accessibility:

Here is some general accessibility info, please contact us with questions or requests.

  • Masks are strongly recommended during this event in consideration of the presence of immunocompromised artists.
  • There are 2 common area entrances to the building. The front entrance has one flight of stairs. The back entrance provides access to the elevator. If you require elevator access, please contact us once you’ve purchased your ticket and we will meet you at the door to let you in and support. The back entrance is in the parking lot behind 910 Richards, cornering Smithe.
  • There is one wheelchair accessible and one gender neutral washroom.
  • We request that people do not wear scents and we provide scent free soap in washrooms.
  • If you would like to request ASL support, please communicate with two week’s advance notice and we will do our best to accommodate.

Photo Credits

  • Johnny Trinh by Greg McKinnon
  • Christopher Tse by Nathan Smith
  • Sarah Wong by Liv Barath
  • Anjalica Solomon courtesy of artist
  • Cover Image: Alger Ji-Liang photographed by Beau Bonez / Graphics: Kelly McInnes