Andra Simons is a Bermudian writer, director and actor now residing in

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Biography

Born in Bermuda, Simons graduated from

George Brown Theatre School The George Brown Theatre School is a drama school in Toronto, Canada. Providing training in multiple forms and practices of theatre, it is one of the highest-regarded conservatory schools for drama in the country. The school was founded in 1976 as ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada. He was well known in the

spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

movement in Toronto, notably for his collaboration with

Sandra Alland Sandra Alland is a Glasgow-based Scottish-Canadian writer, interdisciplinary artist, small press publisher, performer, filmmaker, and curator. Alland's work focuses on social justice, language, humour, and experimental forms. Life and work Sandra ...

in the performance poetry-music band Stumblin' Tongues. In 1997 Simons returned to Bermuda, where in 1999 he co-founded Waterspout Theatre company."BIO: An Open Book".
/ref> He settled in the UK in 2004, and now focuses on poetry and performance. His first volume, ''The Joshua Tales'', was published by Treehouse Press in 2009, and features

collagraph Collagraphy (sometimes spelled collography) is a printmaking process introduced in 1955 by Glen Alps in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate (such as paperboard or wood). The word is derived from the Greek word ''koll'' or ''kolla'', m ...

s by Kendra Ezekiel. The work describes the relationship between a poet and another figure, Joshua, who can be seen as a little boy or the poet's shadow, and is set on the fictional island of Pocaroja. One reviewer, on

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, called the book "startling, shocking and brilliant. Indeed mysterious and magical (and controversial)". Simons was selected to represent Bermuda in "Poetry Parnassus", an international gathering of poets at

’s

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

in June 2012, featuring one poet from each of the 204 nations competing in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

.Nadia Arandjelovic, "Simons to represent Bermuda in poetry Olympics"
''The Royal Gazette'', 26 April 2012.

References

Works

* ''Turtlemen'', London and Isle of Wight: Copy Press, 2021 * ''The Joshua Tales'', London: Treehouse Press, 2009 * ''Some Poems by People I Like'' (editor Sandra Alland), Toronto: sandraslittlebookshop, 2007 * ''Partings'' (with Sandra Alland), Toronto: Stumblin' Tongues, 1998

External links

Andra Simons website.
* Vejay Steede
"World-class poet’s triumphant return"
''The Royal Gazette'', 20 September 2011. Interview with Andra Simons. * Sophie Mayer

Chroma, 1 May 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Andra Living people Bermudian writers Black British writers Spoken word poets British performance artists Year of birth missing (living people)