Daily Dose — Vancouver Poet and Storyteller Fanny Kearse Hits the Stage at the Capitol Theatre
By Ari Lord
Vancouver Poet and Storyteller Fanny Kearse is performing and facilitating over three separate events this month.
Kearse is excited to have a show called Vines Art Society: Visions of the Valley, which is a night of storytelling, music and connection. This show at the Capitol Theatre on October 26th features Kearse, Leo D.E Johnson and Kinfolk Nation, and the tickets are $25.
“I hope the audience takes away from the show a reignited fire so they can follow their own dreams and make them come true. And that we need to help each other collectively make our dreams come true,” says Kearse.
The show will bring “soul medicine” to the stage, says the artist. “Kinfolk Nation and Leo D.E Johnson are folks that I’ve met since moving to so-called Vancouver and being part of the Vines Art Society community. I have found their music to be transcendent and healing, and I wanted to share that with folks in Nelson.”
Vines Art Society is an arts organization that is responsive to and nurturing artists who are working toward land, water, and relational justice. Kearse works part-time as an artistic associate doing curation at Vines.
Kearse is also hosting two other events while in Nelson, a free author reading event at the library on October 25th, and a free poetry and collaging workshop at the library on October 27th.
“Collage is a really cool medium with poetry,” Kearse says. “Hopefully, it will be a sweet intergenerational time.”
In June 2023, Kearse published her first book, Umi’s Prayer.
“It’s poetry and prose from a year living and loving queer. It’s a nice arc of how I shook up my life and unsubscribed to a lot of norms and stories we’ve been told about the types of lives that we should lead, how I dismantled that within my own body and how I’m living my truth, queer and artistic and full of community.”
The book is divided into sections that follow the seasons. At the end of each section are reflective questions and writing prompts.
Now, Kearse says she is trying to get her book out there and market it.
“It feels like a big learning curve, but I’m trying.”
Her book is available at Rambling Rose in Winlaw, or copies can be purchased at one of her three upcoming events.
When Kearse moved to BC from Saskatchewan, she took a giant leap.
“Before I moved to Vancouver, I was a social worker in a school for almost a decade. So, when I moved here, I just started pursuing my dreams.”
One thing she missed, though, was working with youth.
“I missed being of service and around youth. I was really lucky to get connected with Vancouver Poetry House, and I’m part of their program called Word Play. There’s a roster of poets, and we travel around to different schools and facilitate poetry workshops.”
A couple of teachers she’s met have made her book part of the grade 12 literature curriculum.
For the most part, Kearse is making her living as an artist.
“My whole world is art. It’s pretty magical, and I feel blessed.”
Kearse recommends pre-registering for the collage/poetry workshop, although says it’s alright if people drop in. The event is open to teens 16 plus. Register here.
For tickets to the show at the Capitol Theatre, here.
You can find Kearse on Instagram here.
Or her website here.
And Youtube channel here.
