Written by Ariadne Sawyer, MA
Tanya Evanson is a warm renaissance woman, multitalented in many areas; art, music, poetry and dance.
Born in Montreal of a multicultural union (Antiguan-Québecoise) Tanya works toward unity in all that she does. She starts from in her own heritage and interests, applying them to community, literary and musical life.
Spanning more than a decade, her writing, spoken word, vocal and dance performance career has taken her from Canadian print and CD anthologies to international television and music festivals. Tanya remarks on her various art forms with this comment: “I don’t separate any of my artistic practices, be it literature, music or dance. I simply follow their lead. In the end it all stems from my poetry.”
As the director of Mother Tongue Media, Tanya has produced several literary and music series’ and festivals in Canada for African Canadians and all cultures, namely Under the Griot Tree (Vancouver Roundhouse Performance Centre 2004), Trans-Metaphoria Black Poetics (with Mannafest, Sonar, Vancouver 2001), Tales of Ordinary MadnessClicking Tongues (Montreal 1996-97) (Bukowski’s Vancouver 2000-1) and
Her latest spoken world music CD, The Memorists, collaboration between Vancouver and Istanbul was aired on the weekly radio program The World Poetry Café, 102.7 FM as the featured artist of the month with the results of having been voted with one of the highest listener responses.
When asked about her plans for the future, Tanya replied. “I am in the present. If I love and work today, it will feed my family and my community tomorrow.”
GIFTED FIGS
Fresh figs split easy in the hand
Inside are tiny humans rooted in the skin
Heads bumping up against other heads
It is the overpopulated world turned outside in
If we lived this way, locked inside the skin of Earth
Without the Sun to heal and ripen us
Egos would breathe more air than lungs
Live knowing that sunlight is a gift and not a given
And Light is a given seen only by the gifted few
And you are gifted
Tanya Evanston © www.mothertonguemedia.com
