The page and the stage: In conversation with up-and-coming spoken word artist Tawahum Bige

BY MEAGHAN HACKINEN

Tawahum Bige (he/they) is a Łutselk’e Dene, Plains Cree poet, spoken word artist, land protector, musician, and mentor. In 2016, Tawahum’s academic aspirations changed course when he pivoted from information technology toward a degree in creative writing. They landed their first paid gig in 2017 and have since performed at over fifty different venues across the country. Spring 2022 marks the release of Tawahum’s first collection of poetry, Cut to Fortress, from Nightwood Editions.

FBCW staff member Meaghan Hackinen spoke to Tawahum over Zoom to learn more about their creative journey, artistic practice, and forthcoming poetry debut.

Meaghan Hackinen: How did you get involved in spoken word poetry?

Tawahum Bige: In 2014, my friend Simon took me to my very first slam event at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. It was called Slamming the Binary and they had three different non-binary slam poets there—spoken word artists—and they were just sharing their poems about gender, their poems about their experiences. And I specifically remember this poet named Hannah Johnson who just took me down into their world, describing everything using the extended metaphor of underwater, mermaids. I remember listening to these words but feeling like I was underwater—beneath the waves—swimming around with the fishes while this person was telling me a beautiful, beautiful story about gender centring around mermaids. […] The first thought that came to me wasn’t just That was amazing, but How do I do this?

Then in 2015 my second-eldest brother passed away and it was an intense time for me. I had been majoring in information technology, and something needed to shift. […] Creative writing gripped me, held me. [We’re told] writing about or from those places of pain can be really healing […] I went right to writing about my grief. It opened up so many worlds of pain that I had been pushing down that I ended up in the psych ward, but at the same time writing is what got me out of the psych ward. Writing is also what allowed me to continue doing my life and healing.

MH: What was a pivotal moment in your artistic career?

TB: Urban Native Youth Association was a part of Talking Stick Festival that I got involved in, from Full Circle. They had this whole mentorship set up for Indigenous youth to come in […] and create a spoken word theatre piece. […] Not only was it my first memorized performance thanks to mentors and an acting coach, but it was also the moment I got scouted. […] By the end of the year, I had performed over twenty different times, and it really slingshot me into being a working professional, right while I was still in my university studies.

MH: Can you describe your creative process?

TB: It’s so wild to talk about it in pandemic days because it’s very different than it used to be. It used to be that an idea just needed to flow for me, and I would just write on it for days. […] Once I’ve written an idea into a draft, I perform it as soon as possible, […] I need to go up on stage and hear all the places that I’ve mucked up on to know where it needs to change. From there, it’s about going back and editing, and crafting a poem that works for all the things I want it to do. […] Lately, I’ve been going back to old work and refurbishing old, old pieces that I’ve never used and turning them into music, spoken word, or page poems.

MH: Who inspires you?

TB: Zack de la Rocha, as in Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, is the first point, right there, point blank. Then I think of other poets in the community whether they’re huge, like Saul Williams, or Kae Tempest from the UK, or more local like Jillian Christmas, or Zaccheus Jackson, who I never got to meet but his poetry lives on beautifully.

MH: Can you describe how your poetry and activism are connected?

TB: It ties right back to that first name I gave you, Zack de la Rocha, and understanding poetry and art from a place of resistance. My land protection work, and all the beautiful work that has been done over millennia, has always been guided by the beautiful, mythical, artistic works of great artists and prophets, and that always motivates me to write from a place of trying to speak truth to power, no matter how difficult that is.

MH: Your debut collection of poetry, Cut to Fortress, is set to be released by Nightwood Editions this year. Do feel like this marks a new beginning for you?

TB: Yes, it’s the culmination of everything I’ve been trying to start for years. I have a couple chapbooks out; I’ve been published in over two dozen literary mags. I really pushed my work out there so that I could have a collection out with a publisher. […] It’s been a complex journey, and I really believe it’s the start of many more books coming out.

MH: What did you learn while putting together this upcoming collection?

TB: You can do anything with a short deadline. […] I also learned that it’s good to just keep writing. You don’t need to write a collection of poetry front to back. If you just keep writing poems, you’ll probably have enough for a collection at some point.

MH: What advice would you give to a new writer, someone just starting out?

TB: My biggest advice for folks is to develop a writing practice where they are writing as frequently as possible. Maybe it’s not every single day, but as often as they can. More than once a week. Even journaling—stream of consciousness— just write. Just keep writing. Because if you’re ever frustrated or feel like you’re hitting a block, the more that you write, the more you will purge any kind of frustrating cliché that keeps bouncing around in your head. It just has to come out on to the page. Anything that is in the backlog of stupid things that you’ve ever thought up needs to hit the page, so that you can get to the juicy stuff that’s underneath it.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.