Tanya Davis has been performing as a poet since 2000, shortly after stumbling upon (two of her favorite) poets (to this day) Shane Koyczan and Kinnie Starr at a cabaret show in Vancouver's vibrant Downtown Eastside. Previous to that summer evening, in an art space by the name of Church of Pointless Hysteria, Tanya had not even known that spoken word poetry existed as an art form. She was floored. She wrote her first piece a few weeks later and, with the prompting of friends, recited it at an open mic on commercial drive. The crowd was receptive and so she wrote more poems. Soon enough, Tanya was being invited to perform at shows around town, quickly building a reputation as a unique and rhythmic poet with a style all her own. While living in Vancouver she performed at countless venues, festivals, and shows, both solo and with a troupe of poets who never really did decide on a name...
In 2005, upon relocating to the East Coast, Tanya continued to grow her profile in the Canadian poetry scene with a 3rd place national finish in CBC's Poetry Faceoff. She made her first record, Make a List, a collection of songs and poems over music she composed and produced herself. This was the emergence of her wordy music, her fusion of poems and songs, poemusic. Alongside her work as a singer-songwriter and musician, Tanya frequently performs as a poet, taking stages at writers festivals (Halifax International Writers Fest, Word on the Street); reciting at conferences, rallies, workshops, and schools; and bringing poetry to unsuspecting music audiences, either in the midst of her musical sets or through collaboration with her peers in both live settings and on recordings (Jenn Grant, Don Brownrigg, Caledonia).
Tanya is currently working on a manuscript for her poetry, as well collaborations in video, sound, and music. She takes commissions on like the best homework project she ever had and can be contacted for poetry projects and performance at tanyadavismusic(at)gmail.com
