New League Members Jeri Brown is an African American griotte (vocal artist, educator, vocalist, researcher, writer of praise and love songs of creative fiction and nonfiction, producer, composer activist of minority matters expressed in rights & ritual songs), wife, sister, aunt, parent, grandparent and a recluse. Brown is also internationally recognized vocal recording artist, arts journalist, and fine arts professor emeritus from Concordia University, [Department of Music, Theatre & Contemporary Dance]. She’s published two collections of poetry, Skin Folk, and Unnecessary Family. A daughter of a chef and business man and abstract artist, granddaughter of a railway porter, she is also a cook with a sixth sense, recipient of Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 2005, and an end of life doula. Jeri Brown grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her ongoing research on her concept of “improvisation within the vocal ecosystem” explores the role of the improvising vocal artist in the larger musical setting including the role of performance of vocalists with severe handicaps. She has several published papers and books. Sarah Burgoyne is an experimental poet. Her first collection Saint Twin (Mansfield: 2016) was a finalist for
the A.M. Klein Prize in Poetry (2016), awarded a prize from l’Académie de la vie littéraire (2017) and shortlisted for a Canadian ReLit Award. Other works have appeared in journals across Canada and the U.S., have been featured in scores by American composer J.P. Merz and have appeared within or alongside the visual art of Susanna Barlow, Jamie Macaulay and Joani Tremblay. Her second manuscript, BECAUSE THE SUN, is forthcoming with Coach House Books in 2021. Raul Da Gama Based in Milton, ON, Raul is a poet, musician and accomplished critic whose profound analysis is reinforced by his deep understanding of music, technically as well as historically. Julia Gibson is a multidisciplinary thinker, creator, and problem solver who aspires to connect people, perspectives, and ideas toward a more understanding and compassionate world. After studies in violin performance at Manhattan School of Music, she earned a BA in Cognitive Science from Brown University and an MSc in Mathematics from McMaster University. She currently works in aerospace engineering in Toronto. Her poetry explores topics such as
