Fourth-year engineering student Roua Aljied is a talented spoken word poet. Having won several competitions, and been featured on CBC, Aljied has now stepped back from the competitive scene, but still spends her time supporting causes she cares about through her poetry. The Charlatan had the chance to talk to Aljied about her art, her inspiration, and what being a spoken word poet is like.
The Charlatan (TC): Would you say that there was a certain event or person in your life who inspired you to start writing poetry, or is it something you’ve always been involved in?
Roua Aljied (RA): I was introduced to spoken word poetry in Grade 12. I was invited to this breakfast at Parliament Hill and it was there that I saw Jenna Tenn-Yuk perform. I was really inspired and so I sent her an email afterward asking, basically, “how can I do what you just did?” And she replied with a long list of all these events happening in Ottawa where I could either watch spoken word poetry or perform myself if I wanted to . . . the following year I wrote my first poem, called “Looking Over Her Shoulder.” I wrote it for one of my best friends, and it was about sexual violence and rape culture. It had just been triggered by recent events that had been happening in Ottawa. After I wrote it, I went back to that email from Jenna Tenn-Yuk to check out all the events that were happening, and if there was anything coming up, and there was the Ottawa Youth Poetry Slam. So I took part in that and just went from there.
TC: Much of your work can be described as political, [revolving] around domestic abuse and racism. What pushed you to start writing poetry about these issues specifically?
RA: For me, it’s the social justice, before the poetry. While I do enjoy writing, I am more passionate about speaking out against political and human rights issues, so poetry became the perfect platform for me to do what I really wanted to do. In terms of what I speak about, including domestic violence and sexual assault, it’s almost a matter of survival. The reason why my poetry is so personal is because in my experience as not only a woman, but a woman of colour, being black and being Muslim, this is the world through my eyes.
TC: In the world of poetry, you’re known as “Philosi-fire.” What sparked this name and what does it mean?
RA: The name came about when I first started performing poetry. During the end of 2014, which was the first and last year that I did slam poetry, there was the women’s slam they had at VerseFest. If you won that, then you basically got to be one of the features out of the festival, and I won. And I remember looking at their website and thinking to myself, “Wow, this is pretty legitimate.” They have a really great website and they have all these pictures and biographies of people who have won in the past years. I guess that sort of freaked me out, because it was my first year doing this and I didn’t want people knowing my name or being able to just look me up. I wasn’t very confident about my work at the time . . . I had about a week and a half to get my bio together for them, and I remember asking my sisters to help me come up with a stage name so that people don’t know who I am. Later on, I was sitting in philosophy class and I recalled someone telling me how I spit fire, so I came up with “philosi-fire.” My sisters and I didn’t really like it . . . but that same day was the deadline so I decided to send it to them and I guess it just stuck.
TC: You’ve been involved in many events in Ottawa, including the “City For All Women Initiative,” as well as performing on International Women’s Day. What are some things that you’ve learned from these experiences?
RA: The two events sound like they’re very similar but the experiences I had were very different. The “City For All Women Initiative” was very close-knit and intimate. Although it was at City Hall, the audience wasn’t too big and I felt connected to them because I could see all of the people in front of me . . . The performance I did this past March on International Women’s Day, on the other hand, was terrifying. I hadn’t realized how big of a deal or stadium it was going to be, so I was definitely intimidated. It was also more overwhelming than anything else I had done so far because there were over 300 people in the crowd, and I remember people were thanking me, asking me questions, and wanting to keep in touch through social media for about half an hour afterwards. I recall wanting to leave and feeling just so overwhelmed by the experience. Although it was scary, it was definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had, ever.
TC: Earlier this year you were featured on CBC for your powerful work. What was that experience like?
RA: It wasn’t as scary as you’d think it would be, because it was all filmed ahead of time. I just went into a studio, and I was asked a bunch of questions about my work and myself. I also performed my poem “Primary Colours,” and they filmed that to add in parts of it throughout the segment . . . The actual experience wasn’t scary at all, I’d say it was scarier when it actually premiered, and waiting for everyone’s reactions . . . I watched it with my family, and it was kind of weird, but cool at the same time. There’s a history of poetry in my family, so there’s always debates going on about where I got it from, but they’re proud.
TC: Have you found the community at Carleton, such as your peers, professors, and advisors to be a support system for you during your journey as a student and artist? If so, how?
RA: Well, I’m in engineering. So it’s not to say I’ve experienced rejection, but I haven’t really experienced support in that aspect of my life, just because I haven’t really reached out . . . But in terms of my community at Carleton I definitely do have a support system, it’s just not where you’d expect it to be. When I first started off at Carleton, I was working in the Interdisciplinary Studies department and that’s where I met Bill Skidmore. He’s a professor here at Carleton, and he’s been a huge support the entire way. While I used to work in the department, he would always listen to my poetry and try to be supportive in any way he could, as well as everyone else in the department. That was back in 2014. I now work at the Campus Card Office and, again it’s unexpected, but most of the support I get from Carleton comes from the people that I work with. Whether it be through covering my shift because I have a last minute booking for a show, just asking me what they can do to support me, trying their best to show up to my events or the supervisor letting the office know what I’m up to with my poetry. Along with Bill they’ve also been so supportive, I’m very thankful.
TC: Is spoken word just something you like to do on the side for the time being, or do you see yourself continuing with performing at initiatives and campaigns and such in the future?
RA: Right now I’m working on a book coming out in March 2017. It’s a series of short poems about the same issues I speak of with my poetry when I perform. It’s also about my own experiences with navigating through the world as an immigrant, trying to find home, and speaking about why the world can be so cruel sometimes. I want to keep up with poetry, not slam poetry necessarily, I guess maybe because it’s not just about the poetry, it’s more about what I’m writing about. I do the performances at the campaigns because I want to get the word out there, and since most of my poetry is related to the issues that these initiatives are for it only makes sense to perform there.
TC: What piece of work are you most proud of, and why?
RA: I want to say “Looking Over Her Shoulder” because it’s the first piece I ever wrote, and it’s my most recognized piece. But I think this question is very difficult when it comes to poetry, or even art in general, because when you first produce something you think to yourself, “Wow, this is amazing and it’s my best work yet.” Then, a few weeks later, you feel like it was so bad or you can do better. One piece that I feel will always stand out to me is a shorter poem that I wrote, I posted it on Instagram so it wasn’t really shared a lot but I do feel like I’m really proud of it. It’s basically about when my mother speaks to me in my native language and I respond with a Canadian accent or even in just English. The reason I’m proud of this specific piece is because I wrote it about six months before I actually put it out there, and it was something I had been trying to say for a really long time. It’s something I struggle with a lot, not being able to speak Arabic as fluently as I’d like to. So for me to actually write about that, and face it, that’s what makes me proud of this piece.
TC: What do you love most about being a spoken word poet, or the art in general?
RA: I think it’s the impact it has on people. More than anything, it’s being told that you said exactly what someone else had in mind, or was feeling, but they just weren’t able to put it into words, and you did that for them.
TC: What advice would you give to anyone out there who wants to follow in your footsteps of becoming a spoken word poet?
RA: I would say just write about what matters to you. I have a lot of trouble figuring out what exactly the requirements are to something actually being called a poem. I think as long as it’s your actual story and your narrative it’s always going to count as a poem, as long as you write about things that you care about.
