SWSJ Poetry Open Mic featuring Wallace Ryan

Come celebrate the inspiration and beauty that Fall brings with Spoken Word St. John’s at our Poetry Open Mic, with our featured reader Wallace Ryan! (Bio below)

This month we are trying out a new venue, the upstairs event space at Bannerman Brewery.

Bannerman Brewery (Upstairs)
Sunday, September 5, 7:30 doors, 8:00 start
$5 or PWYC
19+
Masks optional

 Featured Reader Bio 

Wallace Ryan was born and raised in St. John’s and began a life long love of printed word after learning to read and write from comic books at the tender age of 4.

He moved to Toronto to attend the Ontario College of Art & Design and finished off his four year program at the College’s New York City Off Campus Studio. He returned from New York and worked in advertising and the arts, including two books of poetry published in the late 80’s. He’s taught Cartooning & Comic Books, Graphic Novels and Figure Drawing at Memorial University and the Anna Templeton Centre as well as at the Little Red Schoolhouse in New York City.

After the death of his wife in 2005, he returned to New York City to work with American artist Carter Kustera. He moved back to St. John’s in 2009 and resumed teaching at the Anna Templeton Centre. He also works on comic books, including a regular feature in the Newfoundland Quarterly that brings the history of the province to life through comics. He works regularly with Newfoundland comic artist Paul Tucker with whom he co-founded the Breakdown Comic Jam with in 2010 and which continues to this day bringing comics to all ages of comic artists.

During the winter of 2020-2021, following the passing of his brother, Wallace wrote a series of poems to deal with his grief and loss during the Pandemic and [tonight] he will be reading from that collection, titled “Automatic”.