Tawhida Tanya Evanson is a Canadian poet, novelist, artist and Ashiq known for her innovative work blending poetry, orality, music and multimedia. Born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, she performs internationally, has released several audio recordings, short films and the upcoming 2024 Afrofuturist concert film CYANO SUN SUITE. Evanson has two published poetry collections and her debut novel Book of Wingswon the 2022 CAM/Blue Metropolis New Contribution Prize. The French autotranslation Livre des ailes(2023) is fresh from Marchand de feuilles. Evanson's work explores themes of African diasporic identity, Sufi spirituality and the human condition, and she has received acclaim at home and abroad for her captivating performances and unique approach to poetry. She is recognized for her role as director of the Banff Centre Spoken Word program and is current president of the Quebec Writers' Federation. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.
FYEAR is a Montréal-based nonet fusing spoken word into multi-genre compositions for electronics, two voices, two drummers, processed saxophone, pedal steel guitar, and violins. Their debut self-titled studio recording was released by Constellation Records in March 2024. Buy the album on Bancamp. FYEAR is led by Jason Sharp and Kaie Kellough with Tawhida Tanya Evanson Jesse Zubot, Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, Joe Grass, Josh Zubot, Stefan Schneider and Tommy Crane.
