Jill Battson is an internationally published poet and poetry
activist. She was responsible for creating and running the successful
poetry reading series ‘The Poets’ Refuge’ and has initiated and
produced many poetry events including ‘The Poetry Express’ – a BYOV at
Toronto’s Fringe Festival; ‘Liminal Sisters’ – a language poetry event;
‘The Festival of the Spoken Word’ – a five day spoken word festival;
Fightin’ Words – poets in a boxing ring; ‘The Poetburo Slams’ and the
very successful ‘Word Up’ – a series of interstitial poetry spots
airing on MuchMusic and Bravo! which spawned a CD with Virgin Records
and an anthology with Key Porter.
She was the poetry editor for Insomniac Press from 1999 to 2001. Jill has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies in North America and the UK. Her first book, Hard Candy, was received to great acclaim and nominated for the ‘Gerald Lampert Award’. She has written several produced plays, most recently staging her one-woman show - ‘How I learned to live with obsession’ in New Mexico and at Toronto’s Fringe Festival. Jill is currently working on a novel as well as a series of performance pieces. Her new book of poems, Ashes are Bone and Dust, was released in spring 2001.
Awards
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, finalist, 1998.
Selected Publications
Elvis is Everywhere. (chapbook)
Fifteen LA Poems (chapbook).
Fifteen Toronto Poems (chapbook).
Fifteen Sensual Poems (chapbook).
Conchinilla Dreams (chapbook).
Hard Candy. (Insomniac Press, 1997)
Ashes are Bone and Dust (Insomniac
Press, 2001) ISBN
1-895837-02-2.
Selected Anthologies
Playing in the Asphalt Garden. (Insomniac Press, 1994).
Word Up. (Key Porter Books, 1995).
An InvisibleAccordion, (Broken Jaw Press, 1994). Word Up.
(Key Porter Books Books, 1995).
Poetry Nation (Vehicule Press,
1998)
Visions & Revisions - the poet's
process (Broadview Press, 2002).
Short Fuse (Rattapallax Press,
2002).
Recordings
Word Up. (Virgin Records, 1995).
Books in Print
Battson, Jill
Hard Candy. Insomniac Press, 1997. $11.99 ISBN 1-895837-01-4.
Ashes are Bone and Dust, Poetry (Insomniac Press, 2001) ISBN 1-895837-02-2,
$13.95.
email: jill@puretaos.com
Poet in the School
(Toronto, Kingston)
phone: 613-378-2708
email: jill@puretaos.com
Poetry is off the page and on the stage. Poetry can be seen on MuchMusic, on billboards, at rock concerts, in cafes, in fact most venues where teenagers hang out. All you have to do is remember back to your high school days - it takes a very particular person to enjoy the great works of poetry, especially when it was written in another time, culture and by people who are now dead. Then imagine the thrill of seeing a live poet, reading about subjects you can relate to, while engaging and interacting with the audience. This is Jill Battson's style of action poetry. Giving high school students a chance to experience the poetry of today. Jill Battson was born in England and has lived in the US and Canada. She has published five chapbooks of poetry, is a filmmaker and the program coordinator of many reading series such as The Poet's Refuge, Festival of the Spoken Word, Wordapalooza and the Poetry Express. Her work is included in the anthology Playing in the Asphalt Garden. She has recently published her first full poetry book, Hard Candy, (Insomniac Press) which was shortlisted for the 1998 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award.
Grade Levels: 9 - OAC
Fees: standard
Classroom Approach:
In her poetry activism work,
Battson believes in giving minorities a voice. This includes giving
high school students a forum to air their voices, often ignored by
adults. In these days of uncertainty many students are writing about
the angst and confusion in their lives, whether it is in the form of
journals, song lyrics or poetry. Many need to understand that what they
are writing has validity and could even be the ënew' poetry. Jill
feels by presenting a classroom with a poet that is writing about
urban, relevant issues, students can place their writing into a genre.
She uses an interactive approach, allowing students to present their
work and receive feedback on writing styles and performance. If they
just want to listen to Jill's work, then that's ok too.