Held Wednesdays at the charming Notre-Dame-des-Quilles in the Mile End, the Polycule set out to provide a safe space where queer, trans and BIPOC performers would be welcomed to try out new material of any artform in a weekly open mic.

The hospital closed in 2017, bought in part by the City of Montreal with a plan to transition the site into a “shared public space”. The reinvented space, now called the Cité-des-Hospitalières, had strict guidelines when considering who would occupy the space, including preserving the spirit of the grounds, and responding to the needs of the community.

As you know, I generally like to say (or try to say) something profound in my essays. I like to bring the personal to the point of universality, and then shrink it back down to a pocket sized concept you can integrate into your life. In reality though, sometimes the real life shit closes down the uh, Idea Station, and my train of thought goes elsewhere.

My first experience with FringeMTL was in 2013. I’d not been living in Montreal long at this point, and at the time I was focused on poetry and spoken word performance. I wanted to get involved with something theatrical, and took the opportunity to audition for a production in that year’s program.

According to the Oxford dictionary, busking is defined as “the activity of playing music in the street or another public place for voluntary donations.” People have been busking for hundreds of years, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of (regardless of what your family says).

I've been stressed lately. Yes, some actual things have been pressing on me, but as is my MO, I've been more stressed than need be. My brain is a particularly shitty place to be when stressed (I’m sure you can relate), and it didn't take long for my intrusive daytime thoughts to slip and slide into my dreams.

Faith is wild. We usually take the word as being part and parcel with religion. We call people at church the faithful and those who stand outside the non-believers, but faith encompasses so much more than that.

“Forever”, that’s what Jesse Winchester told the immigration officer when asked how long he would be staying in Canada. Then, all of a sudden there he was, a draft dodging asylum seeker at the Dorval Airport with a guitar in hand.

Vulnerability is a sensitive topic. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and as is so often the case, once something is in your mind’s eye, you catch glimpses of it everywhere.

Andrew Woods’ Mile-End studio is located on the same street corner, and in the same building, where Arcade Fire, Stars, Operators, and others have recorded some of the best music to come out of this city.