On March 1st, 2017, I will be performing at the Kitchener Public Library at an event called “Building Community Through the Arts”, presented by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Women & Gender Studies’ department. There will be lots of great local artists and juicy community conversation regarding topics related to social justice. Please come out!
Event information can be found here.
I’m a busy little Queen B these days, and over the next few weeks, there are some events taking place where you can find me, if you want to!
First off, Precious Blueberries, you can find me facilitating two workshops at the Birth and Beyond Conference in London, Ontario from October 20th-22nd. The first is entitled, “Conceiving Your Story: Telling Tales” and the second is “Birthing Your Story: Telling Tales”.
If you still haven’t gotten enough of me at the Birth and Beyond Conference, you can catch me hosting their Birth House event, where the birthy folk will be showcasing their amazing talents such as spoken word, dancing, singing, storytelling, and so much more!
What’s new, Pussycat? Whoa-oh-oh! You can find me at the Pussycat Lounge in Hamilton, Ontario, celebrating women/wimmim/womyn/womxn who love women/wimmin/womyn/womxn. No matter your gender identity, you are welcome to take in the music spun by DJ Michael Simla and the creative work of Debra Anderson and myself. It’s going to be purr-fect!
Trees, Bees, and Babies!
Peace and Blessings!
Bethy ❤
It’s cold! Every winter, I ask myself why I haven’t left frigid Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario for the balmy climate of Vancouver, British Columbia…and then I remember that I’m a poet, and I have no money. A gal can dream, though, and those dreams taste mighty sweet since I can remember my trip to Vancouver so clearly.
I may have had an erotic moment with this tree.
Commercial Drive with hippies, communists, mountains, and poets!
While I struggle through the season of chillblains (not just for Dickension characters, apparently!), let me catch you up to what I have been busy doing!
In October, the Kitchener-Waterloo Slam Team of 2015 went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and we placed 5th in the country at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word! Yeah! We came hard and we beat big name teams like Toronto and Guelph. I’m proud of our team’s work!
Queen B was very impressed with the bee theme on a Saskatoon street corner!
This poem earned me a standing ovation from the audience and some mixed reactions from my colleagues.
In December, I performed at a fundraiser for Plan B Co-operative KW, a not-for-profit providing queer community spaces and resources for folx in Waterloo Region. It was called “Homo For the Holidays” and featured some amazing hiphop from 8th Iotomic.
In January, I performed at one of my favourite annual events – Cliterature! The show, put on by Shelley Secrett of Secrett Events, is a celebration of wimmin’s sexuality through song, dance, storytelling, poetry, and pretty much anything you can think of. Yes, there are vulva cookies. Anyway, it was a rocking good time with lots of laughter, some tears, a whole lot of kombucha, and a very generous audience.
Pre-show selfie!
It’s showtime! Photo courtesy of Carolina Miranda.
Next up will be a feature in Brantford, Ontario on February 5th, 2016 (it’s an anti-Valentine’s Day slam!) and my super awesome FUNdraiser, Step Up, Speak Out: A Celebration of Resistance, which is happening on February 20th! Come out! Come out and play with me!
Step Up, Speak Out: A Celebration of Resistance
Legal fees? More like BEAGLE FLEAS! hyuck, hyuck, hyuck!
Other than some wicked writer’s block, that’s about all that’s new with me! I’ll leave you with a writing exercise I did today trying to inspire a poem. The task was to create a list of nouns. Here is my list:
figs, dates, earth, brown, calendula, bees, sunflowers, rose petals, bee hives, honey, alchemy, sand glass, robin’s eggs, twigs, marsh, cemetery, wildfire, smoke, barn, nettle, clover, dew drop, bluegrass, socks, trees, paint, clay, rope, anchor, salt, amber, candle, incense, lighter, crystals, ice, snow, apples, coffee, cigars, apothecary jars, beeswax, maps, books, and sextant.
I couldn’t come up with a poem out of all that, but maybe you can! Share and give me some inspiration!
Trees, Bees, and Babies!
Peace and Blessings,
Bethy ❤
I still remember the first day of Grade Seven so clearly. I was mature. I was womanly. I was wearing a one piece floral jumpsuit with a massive Peter Pan collar. My hair was permed. My braces were blue. Our assignment was to write about what we did on our summer vacation. I concentrated really hard on making my writing small, neat, feminine, orderly…what I perceived “grown up” writing to look like. I was certain that this would be the year that I would blossom into a beautiful maiden that the Phantom of the Opera would love to kidnap and spend eternity with. Or maybe Queen Marlena from He-Man. What can I say? Twelve was a confusing age.
I’ve neglected you, my poor poetry bloggy-blog. My precious blueberries. In the spirit of my Grade Seven perm, please accept this report on my summer’s activities.
In June, I went to Capturing Fire in Washington, D.C., an international queer spoken word summit. This Ontario, Canada gal met a lot of great people and learned the true meaning of the word “humidity”. Cheeses H. Crackers. At one point, I was performing and I was desperately certain that the audience believed I was literally peeing myself because sweat was pouring down my legs like I was an incontinent granny (not yet, suckas! not yet!).
It’s not urine, it’s liquid genius. Photograph by Dominic Berry.
While in D.C., I met a fabulous person named Brynn Possible, who has a super cool tumblr called A Guide to Dancing Naked. She saw me perform at a little show named La-Ti-Do, and did a little write up on me, saying some kind things considering I was feeling like a hot mess and in dire need of a venti triple vodka valium mocha latte, with extra whip (and chains). Anyway, you should totally learn to dance naked by reading this uplifting and positive tumblr, as well as check out Brynn’s acting and singing: A Guide To Dancing Naked.
There was no rest for the wicked upon my return: I next performed at The Cherry Park Cherry Festival in Kitchener, Ontario. I must have lived in Kitchener for over a decade before I realized cherries and cherry festivals were a thing…and at one point, I lived three blocks from Cherry Park! But truly, the Cherry Park neighbourhood takes cherries and Cherry Festivals seriously, and rightly so, because their festival is a heck of a good time! My friends on the Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam team also celebrated the harvest onstage with me: Taylor Heywood, Bashar Jabbour, and Oracle Whyz…all amazing artists in their own right, and worth your investigating.
But can you *FEEL* it?!
After our performance at The Cherry Park Cherry Festival, the team and I performed at the 10th anniversary of the Latitudes Storytelling Festival, which was held in Victoria Park, in Kitchener.
Emoting, you know, like I do.
Then, it was off to Toronto to perform at The Secret Handshake Poetry Reading Series hosted by David Bateman and bill bissett. The show was really beautiful and everyone was so kind…but my favourite part of the day hands-down was watching the geese swim on Lake Ontario with fellow performer (and a true goddess of love) Honey Novick and bill bissett.
Sweatin’ to the Poetries Volume 6. I actually looked gorgeous before I got on the bus, so cram it with walnuts, Buddy!
August was born, and I shlepped to St. Catherine’s, Ontario, to feature at their slam at a lovely cafe, where I had a delicious $10 grilled cheese sandwich. Only $10? No, freaking $10 for a grilled cheese sandwich. Granted, the cheese was from local cows who lived in green pastures, the bread was artisanal, and the sammerich came with a side of organic tomato jelly (read: ketchup). Definitely a long way from the “grilled cheese” of my youth where my sister and I would microwave no-name process “cheese” slices on white bread (definitely not the artisanal kind, either). I had a grand time at the St. Kit’s slam – the people there were so warm and supportive! I laughed a lot, met some new friends, and heard a wide range of poetry.
After a very brief three hours of sleep, I was at the bus station on my way back to Kitchener to perform at a private house party in honour of someone special’s birthday. Gigs with pop and cupcakes are always the best!
A few weeks later, I facilitated a workshop I created called, “An Appetite for Poetry: Exploring Poetry Through Food”. I thought it sounded really sexy and I was super pumped to give it, but only one person showed up. Apparently, everyone was full of poetry that day!
Cue sad trombone music.
Suddenly, it was September, and I was performing at the Veritas Cafe, housed in Wilfrid Laurier University, as part of their RadWeek (the version of Orientation Week for people who don’t necessarily want to chant silly songs, run relay races, and whatever else the other kids are doing). I personally love the idea of RadWeek, and I wish it existed when I started at Laurier a trillion, billion years ago.
September 13th, I was back to Toronto, this time to feature at Lizzie Violet’s Cabaret Noir. If you are ever in the Toronto, Ontario area, you should really check this monthly show out. The variety of artists and the powerful love of the audience will have you floating in joy. I could not have had a better time, and I hope Lizzie will have me back some day.
Photograph courtesy of Mr. Zed Dulac.
Last, but not least, the slam team and I held our giant fundraiser to help us earn some moolah to get to the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Saskatoon this October. It was a hiphop/poetry mashup called “Words on the Beat, Fire on the Mic: Spoken Word & Song”. I don’t want to seem like I am bragging, but this was one hell of a show! The whole team and I did our poetry thing, while we had dC of nSRk, Chris Golden, Rooster the Computer, and our very own Oracle Whyz rock the mic in the hiphop department. I am pretty sure I fell in love with hiphop all over again, which, for me, is a big thing to say, since hiphop and my cats are the longest relationships I’ve ever had. Hiphop and I are fluid bonded.
Photograph courtesy of my bestie, Stefani.
So, in conclusion, my poetry peeps, if you are indeed out there and somehow still reading this, my summer was busy, but fun. I hope that reading my tales of adventure kept you busy until the commercial break ended.
I leave you with a music video of one of my favourite songs played at “Words on the Beat, Fire on the Mic”, called Hands Up, Don’t Shoot by Chris Golden and Oracle Whyz (formally known as YBS Frack).
It’s the sword.
Want to play with me on Facebook?
How do you feel about FREE workshops? How about FREE workshops with snacks?
If you are looking for something to do on April 11, 2015, come out to my super-amazing-tremendously-awesome-no-hyperbole-whatsoever workshop at the Kitchener Public Library!
KW Poetry Slam Presents:
***FREE*** Workshop with BETH MURCH
Saturday, April 11th, 2015. Free.
1:30 PM Performance in Front Lounge
2:00PM – 4:00 PM Workshop in Room A
Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen Street North
Folks are welcome to attend part or all of the programming.
Do people tell you that you are “too emotional”? Have you ever really wanted to get up on stage to spit the truth but worried that instead, you will open your mouth and nothing will come out? Do you carry bog roll with you to spoken word events because you are afraid that liquid fire reality will blast out of you? Are you plagued by stomach pains caused by keeping your mouth shut? Do you just need someone to tell you that you are special?
Then this is the workshop for you!
Spoken word is a diverse genre that allows for a multitude of voices, styles, and experiences, and yet, some of us are afraid to share our work with others because being vulnerable is a scary thing. Some of us have been discouraged from being “too radical” or “too fierce” while onstage. What’s wrong with choosing authenticity over popularity? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Say it loud, say it proud! The purpose of poetry has always been to convey messages: to tell personal stories, to expose our tender emotions, to display cracked hearts, and to find healing in the understanding that all of us are bruised, split, broken, hastily glued back together, and in search of understanding who we really are.
Beth Murch (a.k.a. Queen B a.k.a. Mama B) is a self-proclaimed stage-rager and a recovering soft-spoken “good girl” who has watered many a mic with her salty tears. Let her affirm the validity of your experience and affirm the importance of you sharing your words with your community. Learn ways to expose your delicate heart to your audience while acquiring techniques to keep yourself grounded and safe.
Come for the snacks, stay for the love, leave with the knowledge!
“Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind – even if your voice shakes.” – Maggie Kuhn
Photograph by Colleen Rintoul of Colleen Rintoul Photography ( http://www.colleenrintoulphotography.com/)
On Saturday, April 4, 2015, I will be featuring at the Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam as the city’s slam 2014-2015 slam champion and as K-W’s first representative at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam being held in Vancouver, British Columbia later this month! I’m super excited and I hope you will come out to join me!
Facebook Event Page: April Slam Featuring Beth Murch
Photograph by: Colleen Rintoul Photography (www.colleenrintoulphotography.com)
Check out these rockin’ pics from my feature at The Brant Rant’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Slam!
All these photos were taken by Colleen Rintoul Photography. If you want your own sexy artist pictures, check out this photography goddess’ website here: Colleen Rintoul Photography. I can’t recommend her enough – gorgeous, gorgeous work!
YES! Wimmin artists sharing the stage for a talent throw-down in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario! What better way to celebrate International Womyn’s Day than with some music and spoken word poetry? Please come out and join us for an evening that will warm you, thrill you, delight you, and fill you with love.
Sunday, March 8th, 2015
7PM
The Boathouse
Tickets: $10 – $20 (sliding scale)
Facebook Event Page: YES! International Womyn’s Day Showcase
If you think of broken-hearted people swilling whisky and smoking cigarettes in an embittered fashion, apparently, you are not alone! Come celebrate Valentine’s Day with me, the Perpetual Spinster, at The Brant Rant’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Slam. Or, you know, don’t…I’m used to being alone. WAH!!!
The Deets:
Who: Beth Murch (me!)
What: The Brant Rant’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Slam
Where: Rockling’s Tap & Grill, Brantford, Ontario
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Why: Because misery loves company?
How: By crying into our beers and sharing poetry
Event’s Facebook Page: The Brant Rant’s Anti-Valentine’s Day Slam feat. Beth Murch
I’m not going to lie – I am supercalifragilisticexiali-excited to be featuring at Urban Legends Poetry Slam in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. If you are going to be around, you should totally come out and say hello! Urban Legends has a reputation across Canada for being fierce, diverse, and (respectfully) competitive – it is going to be a huge treat for me to watch this slam go down. I’m so honoured to feature at this event that I am buying a new dress for the occasion!
Photo By: Lindsay Alley © 2014
When: November 14, 2014
Where: Carleton University (1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa Ontario)
Other Stuff: 3 open mic spots
9 Poetry Slam spots.
Arrive early to get on the list.
$7
All ages.
Carleton University
Location: To be determined.
Sign-Up 6:30
Start time: 7:17 pm
Beth Murch 