Started in September 2005, Tongues of Fire (ToF) is the premier spoken word series on lekwungen territory today. ToF runs open mic and poetry slam events at the Caffè Fantastico Quadra Village Roastery from September to May each year. Open mic events with featured performers take place on the 2nd and 4th* Thursday of the month, while poetry slam events take place on the 3rd Thursday of the month (except in December, when the slam happens on the 1st Thursday). You can find our full schedule here and more information about poetry slam here.

At ToF, we aim to create a warm and welcoming space for anyone who may have never performed before or who may want to experiment with a new piece, as well as veteran performers looking to connect with an energetic and supportive audience.

Tongues of Fire Guidelines

• We welcome all oral and literary poetic styles and multilingual expressions.
• We have zero tolerance for hate speech. Otherwise you can say whatever the fuck you want.
• Most importantly, enjoy and take good care of yourself and others!!

Open Mic

• Open mic performers have 5 minutes maximum to share their poem(s).
• Up to 12 open mic slots available per event. No advanced sign up.
• Acoustic musical accompaniment is welcome; however, we don’t provide technical support for non-acoustic performers owing to time constraints.

Poetry Slam

• Poetry slam is (fairly silly) competition, in which five random members of the audience assign poems scores between 0 and 10.
• Poets should be prepared to perform 2 or 3 poems in a slam.
• In a slam, poets are required to perform poems
  • Of their own original creation;
  • Within set time limits (poets going over time will be allowed to finish their poem, but will receive a time penalty);
  • Without the use of props, costumes, or musical accompaniment.
• Poets competing in slams can qualify to compete in our March Poetry Slam FINALS for a chance to represent Victoria/Tongues of Fire at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in Vancouver.

ABOUT CAFFÈ FANTASTICO (Quadra Village Roastery)
We’re lucky to have this beautiful all-ages cafe as our venue. Caffe Fantastico serves hot beverages, beer, wine, cider, light meals and snacks. Out of consideration for the health and comfort of all attendees, we discourage attendees from wearing perfumes or similar scented products and encourage the wearing of masks when not eating or drinking.

The venue’s features include:

• Two non-gendered, single-stall washrooms.
• Two entrances and exits, with one door on Kings St to access the serving area, and another on Quadra St to access the main seating area.
  • NOTE: There are three stairs between the service area and the main seating area. The stage is in the service area in order to ensure a view for everyone in the audience. If this makes the stage inaccessible for you, we are happy to bring the microphone down to the main seating area in front of the stage.

SAFER SPACES: “LEAVE YOUR HATE AT THE GATE!”
We recognize the many variables of live events and open mics may be outside of our control. We encourage all attendees and artists to engage with one another consensually and in a spirit of respect, curiosity, and growth. We aim to offer safer spaces for people of all backgrounds and identities, but strive to prioritize the safety of individuals who experience systemic discrimination/barriers on the basis of identity, presentation or ability. Any and all kinds of overt discrimination – including but not limited to racism, homophobia, misogyny, ableism, ageism, transphobia, sexism – or any kind of aggressive or threatening behavior towards other individuals will not be tolerated on or off stage at our events. In accordance with our Anti-Harassment policy, we do not act on complaints of “reverse-isms” (ie. reverse racism, etc).