John Akpata

John Andrew Akpata is a writer, spoken word artist, musician, freelance journalist and federal politician in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Biography

Writing, media and spoken word

Akpata is a graduate of Carleton University and holds a degree in English literature. [ [http://www.mudsharkaudio.com/akpata.htm JOHN AKPATA - www.mudsharkaudio.com/john_akpata.htm ] ] He has hosted the show "Monday Night Scribes" on CHUO 89.1 FM since January 2004 and was a columnist for Ottawa Xpress from 2004 to 2006. He was named Ottawa's best writer/poet by the 2005 Ottawa Xpress Readers' Poll [ [http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/columns/bestof.aspx?iidarticle=7732 Ottawa XPress - Best Of ] ] for his columns, freelance articles and spoken word poetry performances.

John Akpata was a member of Ottawa's first-ever poetry slam team to travel to Chicago to participate in the U.S. National Poetry Slam in 2003. The following year he was a member of the Ottawa Slam Team at the 2004 Canadian Spoken Wordlympics (now called the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, or CFSW) in Ottawa. At that festival, he placed second in the World Individual Finals. [ [http://www.wordolympics.com/festival/ Wordlympics ] ] He was also the Ottawa regional winner of the CBC Poetry Face-Off in 2004 with his poem "Belonging". In 2005 he was the first Capital Slam champion and competed on the Ottawa Slam Team that finished third at CFSW 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia. [ [http://cfsw2005.wordolympics.com/cfsw.html Canadian Festival of Spoken Word 2005 ] ] Akpata was the manager of the 2007 Ottawa Slam Team that participated in CFSW 2007 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Akpata appeared on the 2005, and 2006 "Live at Capital Slam" spoken word compilation CD recordings of Ottawa slam poetry and has released two solo CD recordings -- the EP "Phoure Twennie" in June 2004 and the full-length CD "Kerheb" in October 2005, which was completed with funding from the [Canada Council for the Arts] . Akpata also plays bass and appears as a guest vocalist and poet on "The House of Words" by Freewill, an Ottawa spoken word artist.

Since then, Akpata's performance credits include the CD release party for "Kerheb" in March 2006, he represented Canada on the Four Continents Slam, a fourteen city tour across the United Kingdom, an "all-star" appearance in the 2007 Ottawa CBC Poetry Face-Off, and a feature performance at the 2007 Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.

Politics

Akpata is a member of the Marijuana Party of Canada and was a candidate in two federal elections. In 2004, Akpata ran in the federal constituency of Ottawa South (won by Liberal Party of Canada candidate David McGuinty) where he garnered 495 votes. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_South] In 2006 he contested the riding of Ottawa Centre (won by New Democratic Party candidate Paul Dewar) where he attracted 386 votes. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Centre] Akpata has a reputation as a plain-speaking political candidate interested in spurring youth participation in the political process and reflecting the diversity of Canada in its politics. [ [http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/article.php3?id_article=230&ei=JlS-R-KMDqeyiwHQ-qCMDA&usg=AFQjCNEEOw9F4Iy2dFNmlz6xgmtR3Z0gOA&sig2=wUyR-5QXfPT2LfYBt21c4A Marijuana Party of Canada – Parti Marijuana du Canada | John Akpata: Ottawa Centre candidate ] ] He ran again for the Marijuana Party in the 2008 Canadian election.

Music

Akpata plays several instruments, including guitar, bass guitar and djembe. Many of his poetry recordings feature his musical talents as well as his voice.

References