{"id":118033,"date":"2025-10-01T13:41:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T17:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=118033"},"modified":"2025-10-02T08:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T12:00:02","slug":"interview-toronto-poet-laureate-lillian-allen-dub-poetry-event-honouring-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/10\/01\/interview-toronto-poet-laureate-lillian-allen-dub-poetry-event-honouring-work\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Toronto Poet Laureate Lillian Allen On Dub Poetry, And An Event Honouring Her Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_118034\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118034\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118034\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_4.jpg\" alt=\"Poet Lillian Allen at the Edmonton Poetry Festival (Photo: Randall Edwards)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_4.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_4-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_4-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy_of_INTERVIEW_4-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poet Lillian Allen at the Edmonton Poetry Festival (Photo: Randall Edwards)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two-time JUNO Award winner and pioneer of spoken word and dub poetry Lillian Allen has carved out a unique career as a performer, writer, and educator. Allen, the 7th Poet Laureate of Toronto, is a professor of creative writing at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD), and she\u2019ll be honoured at an event on October 3.<\/p>\n<p>Called the Godmother of Dub Poetry in Canada, the free event will include dub poetry in performance by artists Dwayne Morgan, Andrea Thompson, Desiree McKenzie, Britta \u201cBee\u201d Badour, and Mathew-Ray \u201cTestament\u201d Jones, the poet laureate for the Province of Ontario, as well as a special performance by Allen herself hosted by Toronto\u2019s Youth Poet Laureate, Shahaddah Jack, with music by DJ Carl Allen.<\/p>\n<p>The event will also incorporate a discussion on dub poetry and its legacy in Canada, with panellists Professor Michael Bucknor from the University of Alberta, Canadian spoken word artist and Order of Ontario recipient Dwayne Morgan, Toronto music historian Klive Walker, and award-winning author and Professor Natalee Caple from Brock University.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wW0CA_iorpE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Lillian Allen: The Godmother of Dub Poetry in Canada<\/h2>\n<p>Lillian Allen was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and emigrated to the US as a teenager. She studied English at the City University of New York. Subsequently, she moved to Canada, first to Kitchener, Ontario, before coming to Toronto. She continued her studies at York University, where she earned a B.A. degree.<\/p>\n<p>Her first album, titled Dub Poet: The Poetry of Lillian Allen, was released in 1983.<\/p>\n<p>Allen\u2019s poetry is woven into music and rhythm, developing a distinctive aesthetic that marries old and new, and puts her in the category of Canadian reggae pioneers. She\u2019s recorded several albums of dub poetry, including the JUNO-winning releases Revolutionary Tea Party and Condition Critical.<\/p>\n<p>Dub poetry is by its nature political, including social commentary, and Allen made it a space for Black feminist commentary. She\u2019s published several books of poetry for adults as well as young people. Allen has also appeared on radio as a host, was featured in the film Unnatural Causes (1989) and co-produced and codirected the documentary Blakk Wi Blakk (1994), a film about Jamaican dub poet Mutabaruka which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to her work as a performer, Allen has become recognized as an authority on diversity in culture and related issues, including arts in education, and has lectured and performed in North America, the Caribbean, and in Europe. She has also held the post of distinguished Writer-in-Residence at Canada\u2019s Queen\u2019s University and University of Windsor.<\/p>\n<p>Allen has worked extensively with youth in Toronto, including initiating and creating programs, serving on boards, and she has played a key role in government policies related to arts and culture. She is a past member of the Racial Equity Advisory of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Experts Advisory on the International Cultural Diversity Agenda, and past executive member and member of the Sectoral Commission on Culture and Information of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.<\/p>\n<p><em>I came to Canada<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I found the doors of opportunity well guarded<\/em><br \/>\n(from Lillian Allen\u2019s I Fight Back)<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wt2IP4BKvIo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>Lillian Allen: The Interview<\/h3>\n<p>Allen was just a teenager when she landed in the US.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just out of high school. I knew I wanted to be a writer.\u201d She continued because of the response she got. \u201cI was very surprised that people actually loved the work as much as they did,\u201d she says, \u201cand that it gained the kind of recognition and popularity that it did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dub poetry, with its music and performance, comes as a stark contrast to the staid, stultifying way that poetry is often still taught in schools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing is, we got a bit of that too,\u201d she points out. \u201cI grew up in a British colony.\u201d Jamaican high schools also taught poetry like it was something to be dissected, not enjoyed. \u201cAs if it wasn&#8217;t made by humans,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n<p>But, as she notes, at the same time, her culture was full of poetry, starting with the preacher at the pulpit on Sundays. \u201cIf I go somewhere, and there&#8217;s a Black preacher, I just slip into it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt&#8217;s just that the language was so alive,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople appreciated the turn of phrase. Something put in a unique way. That was always there in the culture, but not recognized as poetry,\u201d she says. \u201cI knew that I loved the music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There were other influences, like Miss Lou, aka Louise Bennett-Coverley, a renowned Jamaican poet and folklorist, and Jamaican-American writer and poet Claude McKay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is something in the musicality and the vernacular,\u201d she says. It\u2019s not the erudite speech of professors, it\u2019s about the thoughts and feelings of everyday people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really inspired me,\u201d she says. \u201cI started trying my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Poetry of Everyday Language<\/h3>\n<p>The danger of teaching poetry without imbuing it with joy and passion is that it can turn people off the art form for a lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>The rise of dub and performance poetry is an antidote. \u201cLike different kinds of music,\u201d she says. Dub appeals to anyone. \u201cOrdinary people just say ya, that&#8217;s me. I feel that, and are inspired to write their own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like any art form, it grows by developing at all levels, including the beginner. Elitism is a dampening influence that criticizes those who are just trying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs if anything good ever started out good,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have to give people a space to try things out and to get feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dub is an art form that can be taken in many different directions, as it has in her own career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can&#8217;t be good at everything. But you become good at maybe one or two things, and you apply that strategy to other things,\u201d Lillian says of her creative career. \u201cMaking things beautiful. It&#8217;s a journey with yourself,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s also a discovery for the writer. It&#8217;s one of those, as far as I&#8217;m concerned, our inherent rights, to express ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Event<\/h3>\n<p>The October 3 event includes a panel discussion of her work, and dub poetry in the city in general. It\u2019s well deserved recognition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost artists are actually very shy people,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel honoured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Black Music Archives brought together a multi-generational lineup of artists to perform. \u201cThey brought together some younger folks,\u201d she says, \u201cfinding their way in life via poetry and spoken word.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the panel, she\u2019s intrigued by what they will say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m interested in listening to them,\u201d she says. \u201cI love that, because, as an artist, you make your work, and you&#8217;re not thinking very much beyond being in the work, and making the work. They talk about it in a way that makes you sound brilliant,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n<p>She believes that the panel, and writing about culture, is also important. \u201cThat&#8217;s part of it,\u201d Allen says. \u201cThe arts isn&#8217;t just from you, it&#8217;s from the culture, and the culture goes way back. I think that&#8217;s how we build culture \u2014 we get people to talk about, think about what the artist is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019ll be reading a short passage of her work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ll do a little bit of a performance myself, reading,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll just be there feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find details and register for the free event on October 3 [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.ca\/e\/an-evening-of-spoken-word-dub-poetry-tickets-1685432145919\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? 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