ABOUT IWC
Inspired Word Café (IWC) is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit society that provides literary programming in the Okanagan, including open mics, poetry slams, youth mentorship, workshops, and more.
IWC was originally founded by business-man-turned-hippie-poet Rawle James in 2009 as a pop-up open mic. Thirteen years later, we are an established organization run by Executive Director Cole Mash and Managing Director Emmett MacMillen, and bolstered by the tireless work of the IWC Collective and Board of Directors.
No, coffee drinkers and pastry eaters, we are not an actual café. Maybe one day, but today we are merely a committed group of artists and organizers bringing democratic literary programming to an affordable venue near you.
IWC programming runs from September to June of each year. Our goals of awareness, arts, education, networking, and community development contributes to the cultural, social, and economic vitality of the Okanagan Valley. As the core producer of literary events in the Okanagan Valley, IWC is uniquely positioned to affect change in our community For more information about our programming, click here.
Write, but don’t think you’re a poet? IWC disagrees. Words are meant to be heard and Inspired Word Café encourages Kelowna’s community to share their words in a setting that embraces everyone who participates. Please come join us!
We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx/Okanagan Peoples. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.
IWC MANDATE
To foster the awareness, exploration, education, and development of contemporary performance poetry, competitive slams, and literary arts in the Okanagan Valley through public presentations, workshops, and other community-focussed activities.
To educate youth about public speaking, personal development, and community responsibility through annual school and community-wide mentorship programs.
To offer an inclusive space for LGBTQ2SIA+ members interested in literary arts and presentation of LGBTQ2SIA+ work.
To provide paid professional artist wages to Okanagan based writers, performers, and artists.
To be a networking organization that creates connections locally, nationally, and internationally between often-disparate communities through shared artistic practice and engagement.
To support, respect, and honour all community members participating in our programming.
To actively respond to and navigate various access needs as they arise within our community.
IWC MISSION
Inspired Word Café Society (IWC) is a community arts-organization that provides accessible, low-cost literary and performance art programming (including events, education, and mentorship) for local writers, performers, and word lovers from many walks of life, including youth and other equity deserving groups across the Okanagan.
We believe that participation in the literary and performing arts is not only a right for everyone, both as consumers and to creators, but is also a vital part of the creative and emotional well-being of our local community.
IWC VISION
To sustainably present a robust and wide-ranging offering of literary and performing arts programming in the British Columbia interior, and to one day manage an arts presentation venue as an accessible cultural hub for Okanagan artists of various mediums.
ACCESS TENETS
IWC is a creative, collectively-held space where members feel comfortable to share their access needs. We define access as the right of individuals to find comfort in our community.
IWC is a supportive community who listens to the needs of those present. We adapt as those needs and available resources change.
IWC believes everyone is an expert on their own access. We recognize that access is constantly evolving. We support members to voice new needs as they arise.
IWC acts always out of love and kindness. We ask everyone to be gentle with themselves so that they can be gentle with others. Everyone is welcome.
* this document has been guided by Carmen Papalia’s Open Access Tenets