Magpie Ulysses lives and writes in Northwestern BC. She is a dynamic performance poet and storyteller known for charming her audiences with intense stage presence and thoughtful insights, as well as really really funny standup style banterings. Her “confessional poems hit hard and take the reader through intense visceral terrain, but never wallow” (Robert Priest, NOW magazine). She has performed across north America at hundreds of venues, has been a member of two national champion Vancouver poetry slam teams, and is the winner of Vancouver’s 2008 CBC poetry Face off.
She is an anthropologist of the heart who doesn’t apologize for her vastness when she sets fire to the shade you took for shelter from this thing we call living.
Magpie is currently working on a project on behalf of the Canada Council for the Arts about storytelling, adaptations, and human spirit from her experiences of hitch hiking more than 25,000 kilometers in her late teens and early twenties. the project will involve numerous voices and instrumentations from a canada wide base of talented friends and incredible performers.
“She is a truly intelligent poet whose commentary stretches from the meaning of west coast life to the meaning of the universe.” John Tanner, Vancouver Observer
"...a writer who so meticulously dissects the trials of being human" Carly Lewis, Broken Pencil
“A Stellar poet and powerhouse performer” Tongues Of Fire, Victoria
“In case you haven’t noticed, Magpie Ulysses makes most other spoken word artists look like Vegas lounge acts, and not the self-conscious campy-on-purpose ones; Magpie makes most poets realize that they have Ph.Ds in Wankology or that they’re clones and scientists desperately failing to replicate an iota of the punk rock poetry that she radiates accidentally on purpose every time she’s within blast radius of a microphone” Chris Gilpin, great friend, even better poet
Magpie’s poems and stories have been published in:
“MIC Check – Anthology Of Spoken Word in Canada (2008),
“One Cool Word Magazine” (2006),
“Common Ground Magazine” (2005),
and three self-published chapbooks:
“Tinfoil, Twist-ties & Other Shiny Things; Love poems from the aviary” (2005),
“School Of Etiquette” (2006),
and
“Strangler Fig” (2010)
Recent Shows & Workshops
2012
January 23 ~ Featured Performer at the Vancouver Youth Slam ~ Cafe deux Soilel
January 26th ~ Tongues of Fire ~ The Solstice cafe ~ Victoria, BC
Mashed Poetics- Album: Gordon by the barenaked Ladies ~ January 27th, Vancouver
2011
October 2011- Workshop facilitator ~ Northern rural writers in residence
July 3-5th- Midsummer Music Festival
July 22-24th- Kispiox Valley Music Festival
April 2011- Calgary International Spoken Word Festival
February 2011 ~ Workshops: Smithers Public Library, BVCS, Smithers Secondary School, Spring break camp
November 27th, 2010~Club Buenas Noches~ The Old Church, Smithers w Los Gringos Salvajes, and James Lamb
November 16th~Hazelton Secondary School lunch hour workshop
Past shows, Festivals & Events of note
Indiefeed Performance poetry podcast~ December 2010/May 2011
Toronto Poetry Slam, The Art Bar Poetry series, London/Peterborough/Burlington Poetry slam ~ Fall 2010
Wax Poetic ~Radio guest~ Vancouver Co-op radio, 2004/2010/2012
Migratory Words anthology launch~ WhyteHorse Cafe, Canmore, Alberta ~ July 2010
Ness Creek Music Festival ~ Big River Saskatchewan~ July 2010
Western Caravan Tour~ Vancouver to Saskatoon~ w Jess Hill & Buffaloswans- June 2010
CBC Poetry Face-off ~ National broadcast ~ 2008
Gabriola Poetry festival ~ 2007
In The House Festival – 2005/2007
Eastern tour ~ Boston Cantab poetry slam, DC/Baltimore poetry Slam, Providence, Worchester, Nuyorican ~ Winter 2006
Word on The Street Festival ~ Vancouver, 2005/2006
Canadian Festival Of Spoken Word ~ Vancouver, ’05. Toronto, ’06
National Poetry Slam (U.S.) ~ Albuquerque, ’05. Austin, ’06
Vancouver Sistahood festival ~ 2005/2006/2007
Vancouver Young Writers Festival ~ 2005/2006
Vancouver Poetry festival ~ 2005/2006
South Country fair, Ft.McLeod, Alberta ~ 2005/2006
Saskatchewan Festival of Words ~ 2005
~Poetry slams/reading series ~ feature performances ~
Seattle, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Victoria, Toronto, Boston Cantab,Washington, Baltimore, Peterborough, London, (ONT), Burlington, San Jose, Art Bar, Bellingham, Providence, Lethbridge (Most Vocal), Calgary, Loser Slam (NJ), Art of Word, One Cool Word, Dementia 5, Worchester, Ottawa…