ABOUT INSPIRED WORD CAFÉ
Inspired Word Café Society (IWC) is an educational arts organization that provides accessible literary arts programming for people from all walks of life.
IWC programming runs from September - June each year. Check out our full event details.
At the heart of IWC is the collective—a dynamic volunteer group of professional and amateur writers and performers. Open to anyone in the Okanagan, the collective strives to create a space for literary arts education that fosters inclusion and belonging. Through this collective, IWC amplifies and prioritizes underrepresented voices including rural youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, Indigenous youth, and other equity-deserving groups, offering them pathways to engage in the literary arts. Our programs foster self-expression, build pride, and empower individuals to share their stories on their terms.
Through accessible literary arts education, we nurture creativity, support connection, and build stronger community ties. We focus on collaboration and create opportunities for rural communities, educators, youth, and artists to engage in shared artistic practices that celebrate diverse experiences, traditions, and identities. In doing so, we contribute to inclusion, resilience, and belonging within the Okanagan valley.
Write, but don’t think you’re a writer? 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! Our events are open to everyone: professional authors, amateurs, musicians, poets, fiction writers, storytellers, comedians, dancers, and more.
We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territories of the syilx peoples. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land. To read more about our commitments to syilx sovereignty, check out our Biodiversities of Gender project.
MANDATES
To foster the education and development of literary arts in the Okanagan Valley through public readings, workshops, and other outreach activities.
To teach youth about literary arts through annual school and community-wide educational programs.
To create an inclusive space for under-represented voices including 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, low-income, and disabled community members, and to platform literary work from these marginalized perspectives.
To support, respect, and honour all community members participating in our programming.
To respond to and prioritize various access needs as they arise within the community.
MISSION
Inspired Word Café Society (IWC) is an educational arts organization that provides accessible literary arts programming for people from all walks of life.
Inspired Word Cafe Society’s purposes are:
The advancement of education through all forms of literary arts, with an emphasis on spoken word poetry and performance, through producing open mics, workshops, and school and community outreach programs
The presentation of a yearly literary arts festival
To foster spaces of self expression and belonging through the literary arts
IWC directs all funds, in line with our mandates, solely for the betterment of the community.
VISION
To sustainably present a robust and wide-ranging offering of literary and performing arts education and programs in the Okanagan Valley, and to work towards managing an accessible cultural venue as a public amenity for the benefit of the community.
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