Our first ever Minstrels & Bards Soirée is in the Southern Cross Lounge at the Tranzac Club!
We have a soirée of über-talented beauties!! Andrea Thompson, our Bard, will be launching her new CD. Arlene Music is our amazing Minstrel. Our Guest Poet is adebe d.a. And Highlights! Brandon Pitts and Charles Winder. A brilliant evening! Organized & hosted by Brenda Clews. The soirée is free, but we do pass-the-jug for the features, and a $5. donation is recommended.
The Southern Cross Lounge has a bar with reasonably priced drinks. The sound system is excellent. The Tranzac is fully accessible. It is a great location, just south of Bloor St, on Brunswick Ave (just south of Future Bakery), half-way between two full service subway stations, Spadina and Bathurst. There is Municipal parking adjacent to the building, and street parking in the area. The room fits about 60 people and there are lots of tables. You are welcome and encouraged to bring snacks, take-out food - Metro Grocery is by Spadina Station with lots of options, and the new Annex Food Hall is on the north side of Bloor with kiosks of yummy food.
The beautiful Bard:
ANDREA THOMPSON is a writer, educator and spoken word artist who has been publishing and performing her work for over twenty-five years. In 1995 she was featured in the documentary Slamnation, as a member of the country’s first national slam team. In 2005, her spoken word CDOnewas nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award. She is the author of the novel Over Our Heads and co-editor of Other Tongues: Mixed-Race Women Speak Out (both Inanna Publications). Thompson currently teaches at Workman Arts, as well as through the Ontario College of Art and Design University and The University of Toronto’s Continuing Studies departments. Her most recent CD, Solorations, is available through iTunes, Amazon and most online streaming services. http://www.andreathompson.ca
The beautiful Minstrel:
ARLENE is an award-winning Filipino-Canadian from Mississauga. Since 2010, she has toured across Canada, UK, Europe and the US. Throughout her career, she has consistently campaigned the idea of a positive self image using the titles of her original songs, "I’m Worth It" and "Shine So Bright". Her story of transforming from an introverted, shy individual to hosting her own TV show supports her belief that we all have a voice that can be expressed through art. She currently hosts a TV Show called Striving Artist on Filipino TV. https://www.officialarlene.com
The beautiful Guest Bard:
ADEBE DeRANGO-ADEN is a writer and former attendee of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (Naropa University), where she mentored with poets Anne Waldman and Amiri Baraka. She is the author of three full-length poetry collections: Ex Nihilo (Frontenac House, 2010), which became a finalist for the Dylan Thomas Prize, Terra Incognita (Inanna Publications, 2015), which was nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and The Unmooring, published in 2018 by Mansfield Press.
Our Highlighted Bard, Brandon Pitts, and our Highlighted Minstrel, Charles Winder, will rock you with their talent.
It's gonna be a hot Minstrels & Bards at the Tranzac! Love y'all to come out and celebrate Spring and the sizzling talent in Toronto with us!