Upcoming Rochdale Rhymes and Readings

On Oct. 5 Phoebe Tsang and Valentino Assenza will feature at Rochdale Rhymes and Readings at the Regal Beagle, 335 Bloor St. W. I'm excited as both are fantastic writers. Phoebe Tsang is a page poet, but often commits herself to reading her poetry from memory. Her work is quite impressive and worth listening to live. Valentino Assenza is often considered a spoken word poet, but has published three chapbooks, and in my opinion, is more of a page poet than a performance poet when in comparison to many of the spoken word poets in Toronto. He's performed very well on the spoken word/slam scene. Personally, I think it's because the poetry he brings is so good. He needs not to yell, speak fast, etc. Audiences just connect with him and his honesty.