WESTERN FRONT – Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe

Description:

Produced in partnership with The Capilano Review, Dear Friends & is a monthly series showcasing the work of local and touring Canadian writers. Taking place on the first Thursday of each month, readings are hosted in the Grand Luxe Hall and made available to virtual audiences by livestream.

The series’ name draws inspiration from the salutations and sign-offs used by Roy Kiyooka in his Transcanada Letters (1975), a collection which details the comings and goings of his literary sociality across Canada, the network of people and relations that enfold his writing, and the longings of his “Heart’s Geography” to be near the ones he loved. Kiyooka was an important figure for both Western Front and The Capilano Review, and this series invites his spirit of kinship, connection, and conviviality into the reading space.

This event included readings by Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, and Zoe Imani Sharpe. Cha opened the evening with selections from her hybrid text "Grief Cycles I, II, III," which was published in the Spring 2024 issue of The Capilano Review. Bennett then presented a site-specific text that compiled fifteen years of writing and research around friendship and collaboration, personal narratives, archives, and correspondence. To close the evening, Sharpe read poems from a manuscript-in-progress with the working title “Figure Eight.”

The reading unfolded against a projection of resident artist Jonathan Alfaro’s monotype print “Red Sweater Perfume” from the series Daylight Lover (2024). Produced especially for Dear Friends &, Alfaro’s new suite of works were inspired by the imagined flourishes that might be found in the margins of love letters.

The evening was hosted by Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross and Kiel Torres.

Presented with support from the BC Arts Council.

A woman wearing a blue short-sleeved patterned dress and white sneakers reads from a stack of papers into a cordless mic. She is lit by a spotlight and stands adjacent to a pink abstract print projected on a screen.

A woman with long middle-parted black hair stands at a wood lectern next to a projector screen displaying a pink abstract print. She wears a grey tank top and taupe skirt. Seated audience members can be seen from behind.

A woman with long middle-parted black hair reads at a wood lectern under a spotlight. She wears black framed glasses, a grey tank top, and a taupe skirt. To her right, a pink abstract print is projected on a screen.

A woman with brown shaggy hair stands at a wood lectern, smiling. Her fingers hover on her Macbook keyboard as she gazes out into the audience. She wears a white t-shirt, layered necklaces, and blue jeans. The corner of a pink abstract image can be seen projected on an adjacent screen.

A woman with brown shaggy hair stands at a wood lectern under a spotlight and reads from her laptop. She wears a white t-shirt. To her right, a pink abstract image is projected on a screen. Seated audience members can be seen from behind.

A woman with a brown bob haircut stands under a spotlight and smiles while holding a microphone up to her mouth in one hand, and speaking notes in the other. She wears an oversized navy knit sweater vest over a white t-shirt, a plaid mini skirt, and white socks with blue satin flats.

A woman with curly copper hair stands at a wood lectern, reading from loose sheets of paper. She gazes towards her notes, which are arranged next to a blue can of soda water. She wears a leather jacket over a black top, white pants, and sandals. Behind her, light filters through a window out of frame and casts diffused patterns across the wall.

A woman with curly copper hair stands at a wood lectern, smiling while casually gesturing with her hands. She wears green earrings, a leather jacket over a black top, and white pants. A stack of paper and a can of sparkling water are arranged on the surface in front of her. In the background, a pink and red abstract print is projected on a screen.

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Captions:

Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, video documentation, Jun 6, 2024. 1 hr. 1 min. 17 sec. Camera by Qiuli Wu.
Jacqueline Zong-Li Ross at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Yoon Sook Cha reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Yoon Sook Cha reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Francesca Bennett reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Francesca Bennett reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Kiel Torres at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Zoe Imani Sharpe reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.
Zoe Imani Sharpe reading at Dear Friends &: Francesca Bennett, Yoon Sook Cha, Zoe Imani Sharpe, photo documentation, Jun 6, 2024. Photo by Dennis Ha.

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Western Front is a non-profit
artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.