Poet, performer and playwright, Penn Kemp has been celebrated as a trailblazer since her first publication of poetry by Coach House (1972) as well as the first anthology of women’s poetry in Canada, which she edited in 1973. Penn has long been a keen participant/activist in Canada’s cultural life, with more than thirty books of poetry, prose and drama; seven plays and ten CDs produced as well as award-winning videopoems.
Penn has been an energetic presence in sound poetry circles for decades, with work performed at festivals from Wordsfest; Findhorn Arts Festival and Glastonbury Goddess Festival; to the 12th Annual International Sound Poetry Festival in New York City; and in October, Words Aloud. Her work celebrating eco-activism and feminism has been widely publishedt. She has been declared a “poetic El Niño”, and a “one-woman literary industry”, using “speech to create a form with primal power and appeal. Her work points to an exciting new sonic form evolving between speech and music." (soundsymposium.com/).
For service to arts and culture Penn received both the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee and Platinum medals. The League of Canadian Poets acclaimed her as a Foremother of Canadian poetry and as Spoken Word Artist of the year 2015, an award for lifetime achievement. She is their 40th Life Member. As London Ontario's inaugural Poet Laureate, her project was the DVD, Luminous Entrance: A Sound Opera for Climate Change Action, performed with her other Sound Operas at London’s Aeolian Hall, and various venues in Canada.
Penn has performed around the world, giving readings and workshops in writer-in-residencies from the Yukon to Labrador in Canada and throughout India and Brazil, Britain and Germany. Her work has been translated into many languages: “poem for peace in many voices”, for instance, is out in 136 languages. Delighting in collaborative multimedia, Penn is active across the web, working with musicians, other poets, and visual artists. P.S., her latest collection, collaborates with Sharon Thesen (Gap Riot Press). New work from Rose Garden Press is forthcoming, 2023.
