Deanna Smith

Literary

Contact Info

Resides in
Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Experience working with

  • Early childhood
  • Cycle 1 Elementary
  • Cycle 2 Elementary
  • Cycle 3 Elementary
  • Secondary 1 & 2
  • Secondary 3 & 4
  • Secondary 5
  • CEGEP

I regularly explore the following Broad Areas of Learning/Themes in my work

  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Personal and Career Planning
  • Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
  • Media Literacy
  • Citizenship and Community Life (Identity & Belonging)

I've received CHSSN Mental Health Initiative training for:

  • Youth

Listed in the Quebec Culture in the Schools Repertoire

  • Yes

I have experience working with

  • Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Writers in the Communities Program
  • Poetry in Voice. Overture with the Arts.

I can facilitate virtual creative experiences

  • Yes

Travel

  • I am available for travel within the same day
I'm a 5th generation Canadian who experiences othering on a regular basis.Thinking in two colonial languages is becoming increasingly burdensome so I hope to one day discover what my mother tongue should have been. I love words and believe in their power to bring people together. I write poetry and stories for children, hoping that if they get the truth earlier enough, it will stay with them in strong opposition to everything to the contrary. I am a poet, married to a poet, surrounded by poets.

Creative Approach and Experiences Offered

I love people and I believe that everyone has a story to tell. Listening to people's stories benefits the teller and the listener. It's just good for us. I want people to laugh or cry, to remember and understand that whatever happened, they are (hopefully) safe in the present and wiser for what they've learned.
I offer poetry/creative writing/spoken word/slam workshops for people age 4 and up. Three-year-olds rarely take metaphor seriously! I offer performance coaching and feedback for works in progress. I encourage exploration of the works of minority and often marginalized writers.
Writing prompts may consist of visuals, music, physical actions, small objects, quotes or literature. Even if topics are emotional or provocative in nature, one of my goals is the celebration of transcendence. We can all get better.

Video

Jason Bolanis
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