Introduction

The Festival Voix d’Amériques: 10 years of risk (and imperfection!)

The Festival Voix d’Amériques was founded in 2002 by storyteller André Lemelin (as a founder, one of the greats!) who then asked D. Kimm and Les Filles Électriques to become its directors. By 2003, the guidelines for this unusual Festival had been set: the FVA would be bilingual, devoted to poetry and spoken word, and would present a mix of established artists and emerging voices. Above all, it would be open to the unusual.

FVA guests of honour over the years have included poet Patrice Desbiens, writer-composer Urbain Desbois, singer Chloé Sainte-Marie, Aboriginal playwright Tomson Highway, writer-composer Richard Desjardins, New York poet John Giorno, Acadian singer Marie-Jo Thério, and American performer Ursula Rucker. The Conseil des Arts de Montréal recognized the FVA’s excellence by twice shortlisting the Festival for its Grand Prix (2004, 2010).

Interdisciplinary and undisciplined, the FVA showcases original productions created for the occasion. It privileges crossing boundaries and the mixing of genres, with a special place for non-mainstream voices. FVA audiences can enjoy poets, performers, musicians, singers and dancers but not only those. We also feature drag queens, community workers, the marginalized, and the new.

The original focus was on orality and spoken word, but the FVA has slowly and surely evolved towards performance, while maintaining its commitment to text performed by the author. In principle, then, no covers; just artists performing as themselves. In addition to which, we ask them to take risks and work outside their comfort zone! It’s thanks to the generosity of these artists that the FVA has become such an uncategorizable celebration. A wonderful party for those who prefer sincerity.