WESTERN FRONT – Dear Friends &: Billy-Ray Belcourt, Brandi Bird, beni xiao

A graphic that reads "aint Life g-r-a-n-d aint we all Here to prove thru all our acts that aweful fact - Roy Kiyooka, "dear B r i a n" (2/ 18th/ '71)" in white serif font on a black background.

Western Front and The Capilano Review are pleased to invite you to the first reading in our new monthly reading series, Dear Friends &. Please join us for an evening of poetry by Billy-Ray Belcourt, Brandi Bird, and beni xiao.

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

About the Artists

Billy-Ray Belcourt is from the Driftpile Cree Nation. He is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of four books: This Wound is a World, NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field, A History of My Brief Body, and A Minor Chorus.

A portrait of Billy-Ray Belcourt standing in front of a wall painted in a colourful geometric pattern.

Brandi Bird is an Indigiqueer Saulteaux, Cree, and Métis writer and editor from Treaty 1 territory. They currently live and learn on Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam land. Their work has been published in Catapult, Poetry is Dead, Room Magazine, and others. Their first book of poetry, The All + Flesh, is coming out with House of Anansi in the fall of 2023. They like to listen to the same song over and over again and love their three cats Babydoll, Burt, and Etta.

A portrait of Brandi Bird standing beside a black post with the word “Lucifer” written vertically in bright pink lettering. They are giving the peace sign with their right hand. In the background are trees with autumnal leaves and buildings with murals painted on their exterior walls.

beni xiao is a virgo, artist, and author of Bad Egg (Rahila’s Ghost, 2017). they live on the traditional and unceded territories of the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Squamish First Nations people. beni is usually asleep, but you can find them on the internet @verysmallbear.

A close-up portrait of beni xiao laying in bed. their face is framed by white pillows on each side, a pale pink blanket pulled up to their chest and the gold bars of a bed frame above their head.

Accessibility

The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs. While plans for a full building upgrade to facilitate access for wheelchair and scooter users are still underway, events in the Grand Luxe Hall are made available virtually via high-quality livestream (see link above). Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.

Acknowledgements

Produced in partnership with The Capilano Review and with support from Kootenay School of Writing.

Extract from Roy Kiyooka, Transcanada Letters, (Talonbooks, 1975).

Extract from Roy Kiyooka, Transcanada Letters, (Talonbooks, 1975).
Portrait of Billy-Ray Belcourt.

Portrait of Billy-Ray Belcourt.
Portrait of Brandi Bird. Photo by Heather Saluti.

Portrait of Brandi Bird. Photo by Heather Saluti.
Portrait of beni xiao.

Portrait of beni xiao.

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.