Biography:

The poetry of Karen Richardson is heard on stages throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Averaging three engagements per week, Karen has vast experience before crowds at schools, universities, book stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, banquet halls, churches, theatres and outdoors alike. She has provided encouraging entertainment at charity fundraisers, talent showcases, antiracism rallies, comedy shows, scholarship banquets, cultural celebrations, and dinners for the homeless. She has been called on to participate in launches for books, magazines, greeting cards, and web sites. Karen’s poetry is at home on the airwaves of college radio in both Toronto and Montreal. Karen’s unique performance experiences have led her throughout Southern Ontario, Southern Quebec and Western New York.

Karen began performing poetry in 1995. As a member of the Fresh Arts Multidisciplinary youth program, the then teenage poet was regularly exposed to the work of established writers while relishing interaction with other emerging artists. It was in this forum where Karen began to view her poetry as a medium perfectly suited to inspire, challenge, and encourage hearers to work together for the personal improvement and societal change. She continued to nurture her passion for the spoken word while completing her Bachelors degree at Montreal’s McGill University.

In Montreal Karen Richardson trained her singing voice while increasing her repertoire of performance poetry. She explored vocal techniques at opposite sides of the musical spectrum. Karen studied classical Alto I under Robert Ingari in the McGill University Women’s Chorus; simultaneously rehearsing contemporary Alto I and Soprano II under Sheryl Moore in the Evangel Youth Gospel Choir. She gained further invaluable presentation skills as an on-air contributor to Soul Perspectives, a black community issues talk-radio program on CKUT 90.3 FM. Karen accredits much of her success with event promotion to the two years spent serving as the political coordinator of the Black Students’ Network, an advocacy service for Black Students on the historic campus. Under the direction of Karen Richardson an annual poetry showcase was born. Polyphony, a musical term meaning many voices, united Montreal-based spoken word artists, dub poets and hip hop artists for event of an equally social, educational and political nature. In this role Karen also spearheaded and hosted Freedom Jam, a fundraising cabaret for McGill University’s under-funded African Studies program in conjunction with Africana Congress 2000. The congress drew participants from across North America and Europe to discuss the future of Pan-African studies in Canada. Now having returned to Toronto, Karen Richardson seeks to continue to promote positive events that provide spiritual and social healing through the arts.

Working collectively with poets Jeddiah Richardson and Dwayne Sewell, she explores music/poetry fusion as part of the performance troup Planted.

Activity:

Karen Richardson is the creator, organizer, and accommodating host of La Parole™; the inaugural arts series promoted by her company Mustard Seed Productions. La Parole is French for ‘speech’. The event celebrates speech through open mic, poetry, music, visual arts and discussion. La Parole™ won the attention of both CBC Radio, the Toronto Star, and Ambassador Magazine landing favourable yet unsolicited exposure.

Mustard Seed Productions believes that the power for revolutionary change begins with even a small amount of faith. Karen Richardson took her own leap of faith in June 2002, when she decided to leave her career in Pharmaceutical Marketing to devote her attention to Mustard Seed full time. The company is committed to providing opportunities for the public to unify around the arts as inspirational media to affect change in an apathetic world. Its events encourage artists to grow in community with their audiences, enabling all participants to pursue new wisdom and insight together. Mustard Seed is currently calling for submissions for the Toronto Griot Anthology due out Fall 2003, edited by Karen Richardson and Steven Green.

Karen Richardson’s love for people is evident in her poetic work, her commitment to the community and her approach to business. She desires to inspire those around her to create using their unique God-given abilities. Currently Karen is working on both her first book of poetry and her first novel.