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Unbound Reading Series

@unboundreadingseries

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A reading series that highlighted Black writers of fiction, poetry and nonfiction. 📚 founded by @hopeadrift
🎤 open mic hosted by @picturesofharrison

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In anticipation for @unboundreadingseries’ August 8 open mic, Managing Editor @literarychimie interviews Unbound Reading Series founder @hopeadrift on Unbound’s most memorable moments, six years since its inception, the notion of rest in cultural work, and dreams for the collective’s future.

Link in bio! by @unboundreadingseries

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3 months ago

The Unbound Summer Open Mic was a blast! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate 6 years of @unboundreadingseries! I could've stayed for like 2 more hours chatting with everyone and listening to more readings.

Thank you @neworldtheatre for your partnership with this event. How have we already done like 6 events!? 🧡 You all are so cool and talented and I'm so grateful for the support and learning over the years.

Thank you @roommagazine and @rumbletheatre for your various support on this event. And @wildfiresbookshop and @riseupmarketplace for vending. I love it when we all get together.

And last but not least, big shout out to @picturesofharrison, all the readers and @whitneyfrenchwrites ✨. I'm so touched by all the return readers at the open mic. It means a lot that y'all vibe with the event.

See you next year 🧡 🧡

📸 By me or @aschwartz.jpg taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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2 months ago

Unbound Reading Series: Summer Open Mic is happening this Saturday and we are bubbling with anticipation for our upcoming featured reader, Whitney French (@whitneyfrenchwrites)! 🪩📚

Whitney French (she/her) is a writer, educator and publisher. She is a certified arts educator and an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Colombia. Her novel-in-verse, Syncopation (Wolsack and Wynn Press, 2026) was recently published. She is also the co-founder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist press in Canada. ✨

See Whitney in action this Saturday, August 8th at 7:30pm outside under the tents at Progress Lab 1422. 🎪

Tickets linked in our bio! 🎟️

This Unbound Reading Series event is made in partnership with Neworld Theatre, and with the support of @rumbletheatre, @roommagazine, @wildfiresbookshop, @riseupmarketplace, and the City of Vancouver, Cultural Services’ Communities and Artists Shifting Culture grant. taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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2 months ago

🥭 The Summer Open Mic is back! ☀️

@neworldtheatre and and @unboundreadingseries present the third annual Summer Open Mic, a literary and community event that celebrates Black creative writers, hosted by the award-winning author @picturesofharrison and featuring readings from emerging and published BIPOC writers and a special featured guest reader: @whitneyfrenchwrites!

The summer open mic will include curated books for sale, and delicious treats available for purchase and celebratory cake! 🎂

Everyone is invited to attend. ✨ Links to the open mic sign-up and pay-what-you-can tickets in bio.

Date: Saturday, August 8, 2026

When: Doors (7pm) Show (7:30-9:30)

Location: Neworld Theatre, 1422 William St, Vancouver, BC V5L 2P7

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📸 By @davedreams57

This Unbound Reading Series event is made in partnership with Neworld Theatre, and with the support of Rumble Theatre, Room Magazine and the City of Vancouver, Cultural Services’ Communities and Artists Shifting Culture grant.

Whitney French (she/her) is a writer, educator and publisher. She is a certified arts educator and an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Colombia. Her novel-in-verse, Syncopation (Wolsack and Wynn Press, 2026) was recently published. She is also the co-founder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist press in Canada.

The summer open mic will include curated books for sale, and delicious treats available for purchase and celebratory cake! 🎂 @riseupmarketplace

The summer open mic will include curated books for sale, and delicious treats available for purchase and celebratory cake! 🎂 @wildfiresbookshop

Everyone is invited to attend. ✨ Links to the open mic sign-up and pay-what-you-can tickets in bio.

Date: Saturday, August 8, 2026

When: Doors (7pm) Show (7:30-9:30)

Location: Neworld Theatre, 1422 William St, Vancouver, BC V5L 2P7 taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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3 months ago

THANK YOU to everyone who attended and supported the third annual Black Futures Open Mic, in partnership with @neworldtheatre. Big thanks to our host @picturesofharrison and community vendors @riseupmarketplace and @wildfiresbookshop. This event would not be the same without you. 💕

To the featured readers, Siobhan Barker and Sonya Littlejohn, and all the readers who signed up for the open mic , your talent and energy is palpable. Thank you @davedreams57 for capturing the joy. taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

Celebrate Black joy! 🌞

@neworldtheatre and @unboundreadingseries present the third annual Black Futures Open Mic, a literary and community event hosted by Harrison Mooney, featuring readings from emerging and published writers, and special guest readers: Siobhan Barker and Sonya Littlejohn! A curated selection of books will be available for sale courtesy of @wildfiresbookshop 📚 !

The Black Futures Open Mic prioritizes readings from Black creative writers, but everyone is welcome to attend. 🎤 Link to open mic sign up form and pay-what-you-can tickets in bio.

Register by Friday, February 14th to qualify for a book bundle giveaway 💕

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This Unbound Reading Series event is made in partnership with Neworld Theatre, and with the support of Room magazine and the City of Vancouver, Cultural Services’ Communities and Artists Shifting Culture grant. by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

A warm thanks to everyone who came to the second Sowing Stars writer social last night. The event was dreamy in the new @wildfiresbookshop literary lounge and community space!

As a group exercise, we created two book title poems inspired by the Earthseed verses and themes from the Parable of the Sower. (thank you Samita for letting us pull these titles from your shelves)

--- 💥

Martyr!
We refuse
the gospel of breaking.
It stops here.
The quiet is loud
Hunger

--- ✨

All about love,
Re-enchanting the world
A burst of light,
Better boys better men
Children of blood and bone
However far away
Across a field of starlight

--- 📚

It's been great getting to know more of you on a personal level at these events, and I look forward to doing more in the new year. by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

Reading check-in ☀

We began reading Parable of the Sower last month, and it's a little over halfway through our summer reading challenge; the goal being to read the book between July 20 - Aug 31.

Lolu and I are slowly making our way through the text, taking pauses for reflection and connection, and we thought we'd share and open up a conversation about personal reading practices. (we'll get more into the content of the book at the next Sowing Stars Writer Social on Sept 7th. Details coming soon.)

📚 Reading Ritual 📚

Some things we've tried:
- Hosting a reading meetup with friends
- Reading along with the audiobook
- underlining interesting words or words you don’t know to keep your hands active
- doodling little emoji faces on the corner of each page with how you feel about what is written
- creating erasure poetry for a closer read and examination of the text (note: in my case, I use a scan or photocopy of the text instead of marking up the book)

What gets you in the mood or helps you focus on reading?

New and used copies of the book can be found at your local bookstore or library. @wildfiresbookshop @massybooks @upstartandcrow 📖 support libraries & small bookstores! by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

🎤 HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came to our SECOND annual Summer Open Mic with @unboundreadingseries! 🎉

Big shoutout to our incredible host @picturesofharrison and our amazing vendors @riseupmarketplace, @wildfiresbookshop, and @roommagazine! You all brought such fantastic vibes and made the event so special.

And just look at this STACKED performance lineup! 🙌🏽 Thank you to everyone who signed up and shared your talent with us. Your performances blew us away!

We love hosting these events at Neworld, and it’s the wonderful people like you who make it all worth it. We’ll be back with Unbound in February 2025, so stay tuned for more exciting updates! 📚✨

📸: @davedreams57 taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

☀Join us for Summer Open Mic! 📚

@neworldtheatre and @unboundreadingseries present the second annual Summer Open Mic, a literary and community event that celebrates Black creative writers, hosted by Harrison Mooney and featuring readings from emerging and published BIPOC writers, and a special featured guest reader: Jillian Christmas!

In association with @roommagazine, @wildfiresbookshop, and @riseupmarketplace, the summer open mic will include curated books for sale, and delicious treats available for purchase.

Everyone is invited to attend. ✨ Links to open mic sign up and pay-what-you-can tickets in bio.

🔗 https://events.humanitix.com/unboundsummeropenmic taken in Progress Lab 1422 by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

📚 "Finding the truth in my writing is easier when I'm in it." - Lolu Oyedele

Thank you to everyone who attended the first Sowing Stars Writer Social last Friday. It's a dream to be able to gather with writers to share the behind the scenes of our individual writing journeys and inspirations. There's much to uncover and connect on.

Thanks @loluoyedele for cofacilitating this new branch of Unbound Reading Series with me. We're excited to be doing more in person events this summer. ☀ Stay tuned for more announcements.

📸 @samita.manhas

Thank you @wildfiresbookshop and @artsnewwest for your partnership and support of this event. by @unboundreadingseries

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2 years ago

A couple weeks ago I was interviewed by the lovely @megzycole for the @bcyukonbookprizes Writing The Coast podcast. We chatted about the Unbound Reading Series, the roots and the heart of it.

I was very nervous going into the interview but I'm also very proud of what Unbound has grown to be over the last 4 years, thanks to the support and encouragement of many people.

Link to the podcast can be found in my bio.

(event photos by @davedreams57
slide 2: Black Futures Open Mic, Feb 15 2024
slide 3: Unbound Summer Open Mic, July 29 2023) by @unboundreadingseries

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