The #NoOneHungers Tour
I would argue that the Poet would generally be described as a lonely creature. It conjures the image of a tortured, tubercular young artist—or, through a more modern lens, a highly sensitive individual with a Moleskine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Writing and consuming poetry is often a solitary experience, yet nights like the one I’m about to share with you graciously remind me of the community and connection that this art form is also capable of nurturing. On Thursday, May 22nd, poets Jessica Bebenek and Christine Wu brought their #NoOneHungers tour to Montreal, and it was an evening brimming with equal parts words and love.
I’d first heard of the event through Concordia University’s Undergrad mailing list—I graduated over 2 years ago, but have yet to tap the likely microscopic “Unsubscribe” button hidden at the bottom of each email. I’d had the pleasure of watching Jessica read her poetry at Andrew Jamieson’s 2024 Sleazy Christmas back in December, and of course had been made aware of her new poetry collection titled No One Knows Us There thanks to Dawn McSweeney’s wonderful artist profile published back in April, which you should absolutely read. So I was eager to attend the event.
Traffic on the way downtown made me a few minutes late, but guests were still mingling and hovering over the merchandise table when I arrived. I had never been to mai/son before, and was only clued in to where the entrance was by a fellow latecomer who seemed to know the way. I was invited to leave my shoes at the door and hang my jacket upstairs, admiring the charm of the building on my way through. It’s a charming space, and the perfect spot for such an intimate gathering. A makeshift performance area was arranged in the front room, and guests sat on chairs lining the perimeter of the space, or—myself included—sat cross-legged on the floor. It felt reminiscent of story time as a child, though I imagine I had much less discomfort in my back and hips from the hardwood flooring in elementary school.
The evening began with Jessica introducing the #NoOneHungers tour and welcoming Liz Howard to take the mic. Liz is a Montreal-based poet and professor whose 2015 debut poetry collection Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent won the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize, amongst a plethora of other impressive literary achievements to her name. I’d had the pleasure of listening to Liz read some of her work at another literary event back in October, and her spoken word was just as impactful the second time around. Her work predominantly explores her Anishinaabe heritage and Indigenous ways of knowing and being, with her academic background in both science and the arts offering a unique intersection of disciplines in her poetry.
I can’t think of any other way to describe it than it feels like Liz’s poetry was made to be read aloud. I’ve only read my own work at an open mic once, and I was a little too quiet and shaky with nerves. When Liz reads, her presence and confidence fill the room and demand to be heard. She speaks clearly and precisely, and it was a wonderful start to the evening.
Christine took the stage next, briefly speaking on her poetry collection titled Familial Hungers. She reflects on how the collection came to be, citing her complicated relationship with her family and the passing of her father as catalysts for her writing. She introduces one poem by sharing how during the pandemic, she was “making a lot of food that reminded [her] of home, and that was this thread that kept [her family] tied together, despite all of the ways that [their] communication had broken down.” Another poem–described by Christine as a “family history poem”–features two voices, with that of colonialism repeatedly interrupting the narrative. Christine’s poetry is raw and intimate, and I appreciate the unique and experimental approaches she takes to storytelling.
Next, Jessica is warmly introduced by Christine as not just her partner on tour, but as a dear friend: “Writing chapbooks, doing poetry, teaching–I feel like Jess does a little bit of everything.” Like I mentioned, I had listened to Jessica read her poetry before, and am still in wonder at the high-spirited, radiant aura she exudes. Of her poetry collection, she calls it “a book in two halves. The first half of it I wrote about 10 years ago, during the time that my grandfather was passing away in palliative care, and I was taking care of him, as well as the time afterwards.” Years later, she found herself combing through this collection of grief poems, and created what ended up being the second half of the book. She shares that the second half is, in a way, a response to the first, with many poems being re-writings.
After the readings were done, we broke for a brief intermission and smoke break. Jessica was hard at work manning the merchandise table, so I had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Christine. When I asked how the #NoOneHungers tour came to be, she talked of their pre-existing friendship. “It just happened that we both had books coming out,” she tells me, and it just seemed natural to both of them that they would do a joint tour—especially seeing as the themes woven through their respective poetry collectives intersect in more ways than one: grief, love, and family to name a few.
The #NoOneHungers Tour stops at Perfect Books in Ottawa
I asked about Christine’s history with the art of poetry. “I came about it in a really pragmatic way. When I was 16, I sat down and was like, ‘I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my life,’” she reflects. “I started writing, and I realized I loved it. It was a really fun thing for me to do, and I just instantly connected.” After her studies, she was driven in different directions, and ultimately turned away from writing for 15 years. “It wasn’t until the pandemic that I was just living life, hating my job, and my partner suggested that I quit,” she tells me. Christine did indeed quit her job, pursued her MA, and reconnected with writing. “For me, writing the poems was very therapeutic, because it helped me process a lot of stuff I didn’t realise I needed to process that had been building up over the past 15 years.”
Listening to Christine talk about her relationship with writing was validating to me in a multitude of ways. I’ve struggled with my own identity as a writer, especially during long stretches of time where I find it hard to write anything at all. When comparing her experience writing back then to the present day, Christine expresses: “I was always struggling to find something to write about because I wasn’t comfortable writing about myself. When I came back to writing, it was all I could write about. (...) Now, it’s how I process my thoughts and emotions.”
Our conversation about how and why we write made me curious who she felt this book was really for. “I think it started for myself, but it is me trying to speak to my mother,” she reflects. “We have a communication barrier—because of emotional things we don’t talk about, but there’s also a literal language barrier because I’ve lost so much of my Chinese.” This idea of a cultural and emotional disconnect is the connective tissue of this collection. “For me, I think my first audience is my mom,” she states, and I’m curious if her mother has read it. “She’s making her way through it,” she tells me, and I pocket another example of connection bridged by poetry.
At the merch table, copies of both books were being sold and guests were encouraged to take a free paper fortune cookie, in which a line of poetry was hidden. When I opened mine, I found a line from one of the poems Jessica read on stage: “If I were to lie to you, I would say that nature is a poet”.
Familial Hungers by Christine Wu can be purchased through Brick Books here, and No One Knows Us There is available through Book*hug Press here. Follow both authors on Instagram: Jessica Bebenek (@notyrmuse) and Christine Wu (@homemadepoem).
