When a friend of mine first suggested I read my poetry on stage at the Camosun College Student Society’s Tea and Talent event, held on Thursday, March 5 to celebrate International Women’s Day, I was flattered yet anxious. I’ve recited some of my favourite works on stage and read some of my own before, but never in front of my peers. A random open mic downtown was one thing, but reading my personal story woven into art in front of someone I might see in chemistry next week seemed terrifying.
A lot of my poetry focuses on the challenges I’ve faced regarding my recovery from mental-health challenges and addiction. Although these subjects are talked about in society, the people who suffer from them struggle to have their voices and their stories heard. The idea of having the opportunity to share my work and parts of my story in such a welcoming environment made me feel so loved and so seen in a way I never have before. So, despite the fear, I said yes.
When I arrived at Sherri Bell Hall, I was astounded by how the student society transformed the space. I’ve seen that room used dozens of times for events like volunteer or University Transfer fairs, but it looked fit for a tea party: every seat had a beautiful teacup placed in front of it, and all the tables had these cute three-tiered cupcake platters full of finger sandwiches and small desserts. The ambience was exactly what I had imagined and the organizers pulled it off beautifully.
Right before the performances started, the volunteers came around with hot water and a selection of teas. There was also water and iced tea available for anyone who didn’t want a hot drink.
In the intermission between performances, more finger sandwiches were brought around as a refill and there was a special gluten-free section in the corner of the room for anyone who needed it. The food was tasty, but the egg salad in the sandwiches was too salty for my liking (this is my favourite type of sandwich so I was rather disappointed). Overall the catering was good, I just wish there was a bit more variety and a bit less salt.
The event opened with a speech about how difficult it can be to be a woman, but how we have so much to celebrate as well. Everyone who shared their experiences touched on the complexities of being a woman in this world.
The performances were broken down into two categories: poetry and comedy. The first round consisted of poetry, and I was second on the itinerary. I had hoped my time slot would accommodate my longer-form works. Lucky me: I was given a 10-minute slot and fit my three best poems in comfortably and received a few compliments afterwards, which always feels nice.
The other performers did a great job, and I felt pulled into their works and their stories. My only complaint would be that the poetry felt very similar in style; we all used a very similar long-form free-verse technique that started to feel repetitive toward the end. That doesn’t discredit the talent and skill everyone showed, but when it’s all performed within the same hour it gets tiresome. None of the comedy in the second half was to my liking, but I’m really picky when it comes to that. I didn’t even know that there was a half-hour long comedy section until I saw the itinerary when I got there; if this event happens again, I hope to see it expand to even more categories.
I thoroughly enjoyed performing and attending Tea and Talent. The organizers from the CCSS did a great job. My complaints are outweighed by the enjoyment I received from the event. I met other women who create the same art that I do, I was given a platform to share my story with my peers, and I got to both grieve and celebrate everything it is to be a woman.