If a city is characterized by the people who live there, as Calgary transforms, it is important to acknowledge who we are as we grow and change. With this idea in mind, we asked the community to write about someone who represents or captures the essence of Calgary as we are today.

Learn about the city by the poetic portraits of the people! Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People Ordinary Stories of Extraordinary People

Who are we? What is our identity? Who are we as a city? Who are the people that live here? What are their stories? How will we build a new future together?

The "Mama of Dada"
Poet, film-maker, educator, producer, and activist Sheri-D Wilson has 7 collections of poetry; her most recent, Autopsy of a Turvy World (2008, Frontenac House). Her last collection, Re:Zoom (2005, Frontenac House), won the 2006 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry, and was shortlisted for the CanLit award. She has 2 Spoken Word CDs (arranged by Russell Broom), and 4 award-winning VideoPoems: Airplane Paula (2001), Spinsters Hanging in Trees (2002), Surf Rave Girrly Girrl (2004), and The Panty Portal (2008), all produced for BravoFACT.

Awards Include: CBC Arts Top Ten Poets in Canada (2009), ffwd Readers' Choice - Best Poet ( 2008, 2007), Global TV's Woman of Vision Award (2006), SpoCan Award (2005), Bumbershoot Heavyweight Title for Poetry USA (2003), Gold Award at the Houston Film Festival (2003), Three ACE awards (2003), AMPIA (2003, for best short or vignette), CBC Face-off (2002)

Reading Highlights: Blue Met 2009 (Montreal), Voix d'Amériques 2008,'05 (Montreal), Bumbershoot 2003, '99, '92, '91, '89 (Seattle), Vancouver International Writers Festival 2002, '00, '95, '93, '90 (Vancouver), The World Poetry Bout 2002 (Taos, New Mexico), Poetry Africa 2001 (South Africa), WordFest 2008, 2000, '95 (Calgary, Banff), Harbourfront Reading Series 1993 (Toronto), Small Press Festival 1990 (NYC).

Other Highlights:Women and Words, 2003-2007 (instructor), First Time Eyes: Unearthing Spoken Word, 2007 essay (Canadian Theatre Review), Heart of a Poet, 2006, featured poet documentary series, Bowery Project, 2005 (Instructor), Alberta Scene, 2005 (a commemoration of Alberta's centennial), Human Rights Symposium 2005: Victoria, Sounds Like Canada, 2002 CBC Poet in Residence, Addicted: Notes From The Belly Of The Beast, 2001 essay entitled Blackout, Confessions a Jazz Play, 1991 text of play (Theatrum). Of the beat tradition, in 1989 Sheri-D studied at Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, in Boulder, Colorado.

Since founding the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival in 2003, Sheri-D has worked at quantum velocities to present the largest Spoken Word Festival in Canada. Driven by the passion to connect people, voices and ideas she organized SWAN (Spoken Word Arts Network, 2007, 2005), produced the 2008 National Slam of Canada and is the Program Director of the Spoken Word Program at Banff Centre.

calgaryspokenwordfestival.comsheridwilson.com

Sheri-D Wilson's profile page