Since moving to Vancouver from Prince Edward Island four years ago Ryan Fletcher has been active as a poet in the Vancouver scene. Using a distinctly quiet and direct approach Ryan creates an intimate atmosphere when reading, then with skilful timing draws audiences into the many different worlds of his writings. With poetic voices ranging anywhere from the soft and deeply romanticized, ‘Healthy Hearts’, ‘Beach’, and ‘Cranberry Juice’ to impassioned calls to activist action in, ‘Just TV’, ‘Broken Hearts Die Slowly’, and ‘Ode to the Weed’ to the more dangerously outrageous voices present in pieces like his popular, ‘Damn Romance!’, attending one of Fletcher’s readings is an emotional experience. As he said in an interview, “it is emotion that one ultimately takes away from life situations, and it is my interest to explore that part of living.”
With a simple and direct writing style and a gift for perspective, Ryan Fletcher writes works built to reach any kind of crowd, whether it be analytical academics or regular blue collar workers. With an academic background of English, History, and Psychology, and work experience ranging from harvests and landscaping, to warehouses, fast food joints, organic delis, casinos, offices, museums and radio stations, Fletcher knows many voices. He said his ultimate interest lies in, “Disarming any lies we may be telling ourselves and celebrating the human experience, good and bad”, “It is my hope that my poems will leave audiences with beautiful impressions of truth that has them feeling good and curious about the magic of life.”
To read some of Ryan’s works visit the ‘Rhyme and Punishment’ section of the www.unconformed.com website, and you can usually catch him performing live in Vancouver Friday nights at ‘Trees Coffee House’
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