My name is Christine Bissonnette and I am a poetry writing facilitator, Speech Arts teacher, and certified breath teacher passionate about unleashing the creativity of my students through student-centred and mindfulness-focused instruction.
My Speech Arts students have won first place in speech competitions at their school, taken home medals (like ‘the outstanding acting award’ and the ‘outstanding monologue performance award’) at various festivals, and have received First Class Honours for their Speech Arts RCM Exams.
The students from my poetry writing workshops have received poetry fellowships, published chapbooks, won awards in literary magazines… and on many occasions those same students arrived in my class feeling blocked and unsure of their relationship to poetry.
As a performer and writer, I’ve performed on stages all over Vancouver including opening for Danielle LaPorte as part of the Rise Women’s Conference. My poem ‘Rise’ (written for that conference) was later featured by Downtown Vancouver’s Poetry Phone in order to uplift Vancouver audiences at the start of the pandemic. In 2019, I wrote, featured in, and co-produced a short film (Left Opened) that combined poetry, music, and dance to explore anxiety. The film toured film festivals internationally.
Most recently, I was featured in episode 1 of the STORYHIVE funded ‘Heal Through Poetry’ series. The 8 episode series was released on Telus Optic and on Youtube in September 2023. You can browse the series here.
Poetry is my passion.
All of my classes and offerings feature the delights of writing, speaking, and reading poetry at their centre.
What is poetry? I’m glad you’ve asked. Poetry has been defined in lots of different ways, but here’s one I love:
“Poetry is a detour we willingly subject ourselves to, a trick surprising us into the deepened vulnerability we both desire and fear.” – Jane Hirschfield
My students have also tried their hand at defining poetry. Here are some of their explorations.
Education / Training
I have my BA in English and creative writing with a minor in theatre from UNB Fredericton. This nationally-recognized creative writing program took place in a small one room school house called ‘The Ice House‘. It was an incredible experience and… I walked away from my degree with some bad writing habits that I talk about here.
I’m also a certified Breathexperience teacher. Learn more about my training by visiting my CV.
Who have I worked with?
I got my start at Viva Voce Speech Arts Studio, providing personalized public speaking instruction to school-aged students and adults. Since then, I’ve worked with a growing number of organizations facilitating poetry writing experiences.
Here are a few that I’m particularly excited about:
- For two years, I facilitated private poetry writing experiences for adults with cognitive disabilities as part of Kudoz. Participating adults later performed the poems they wrote as part of their annual awards event.
- I connected with a group of Early Education teachers at RRC Polytech and the CreativeMornings HQ team to facilitate a poetry writing experience that centred on play.
- I received TWO ArtStarts Creative Spark grants as I was just starting out as a poetry teacher, to facilitate two workshops for teens that focused on the art of writing and speaking poetry out loud. A lot of this studio’s curriculum was developed with their support.
Want to work with me?
Send me an email at christine@9creativelives.com or phone at 604-561-0772. I look forward to hearing from you.