On a warm July night in 2010, in the back room of Clinton’s Tavern in downtown Toronto, a tall bearded man took the stage amid murmurs floating across the room. “Hey, I think I’ve heard of this guy,” said one audience member, while another whispered, “Someone told me about this poet. I can’t wait to hear him!” A moment later, Shane Koyczan, a spoken-word poet from Penticton, B.C., began reading and the room fell silent.
JAMES LINDSAY
PHOTOGR APHY BY CHRIS PAYNE
“This wasn’t just great poetry, this was great social commentary and great entertainment all at once,” says Cynthia Gould, interim director of the Art Bar Poetry Series, which hosted the event. Gould’s recollection of this moment is bittersweet now that the Art Bar has announced that on June 28 it will wind down its impressive 25-year run as Canada’s longest-running weekly poetry reading series.