D Kimm

Artistic work

After studying history at UQAM, D Kimm turned her attention to writing, performance and stagecraft, starting in 1985. She has published four books: O Solitude! (Triptyque, 1987), Chevale (VLB éditeur, 1989), Tableaux (VLB éditeur, 1991) and the book+CD-ROM La Suite mongole (Planète rebelle, 2001). Her book Chevale was nominated for the Prix Émile-Nelligan, an award for young poets. She participated in the collective work Le Montréal des écrivains (Hexagone, 1988), was one of 128 poets in Anthologie de la poésie des femmes (Remue-Ménage, 1990, 2003), and appeared in Anthologie Arcade (1996) and the 1997 and 1998 anthologies of La Vache enragée. Her book entitled La Suite mongole has been translated by Fortner Anderson and will soon be published by an English-language publisher.

While pursuing a writing career, D Kimm has also undertaken stage research since 1984. She studied dance under Jo Lechay, Marie Chouinard, and Jocelyne Monpetit, performance and movement under Téo Spychalski, Claude Lemieux and Élizabeth Albahaca of the Théâtre La Veillée as well as Dulcinée Langfelder and Jerry Snell, and acting at Pol Pelletier’s Dojo.

D Kimm has participated in numerous poetry evenings and presented shows in such venues as Foufounes Électriques, Quai des Brumes, le Cheval Blanc, Théâtre La Licorne, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, le Lion d’Or and the Maisons de la culture. She works regularly with musicians such as Pierre Cartier, Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay, Malcom Goldstein, Bernard Falaise, Michel F. Côté, Normand Guilbeault, Rémi Leclerc, Alexandre St-Onge. Her show Chevale, presented with keyboardist Pierre St-Jak at La Licorne (1990) and a duo with dancer Louise Bédard, presented at the Agora de la danse as part of the Festival de la littérature (1994), confirmed her strong stage presence. In September 1999, she presented a multidisciplinary show at Tangente entitled La Suite mongole, in collaboration with Nathalie Derome, Maryse Poulin and Marcelle Hudon.

In 1999, D Kimm participated in FiXions — 5 Photonovels on the Web as a member of a collective of five photographers and five writers (produced by Agence Topo). In 2000, she produced the CD-ROM La Suite mongole, in cooperation with Joseph Lefebvre and the Society for Arts and Technology. This CD-ROM was part of a multimedia installation at the Festival of New Cinema and New Media (FCMM) and was presented at the Rencontres Arts Électroniques in Rennes (2000).

She leads Le Band de poètes, a group of poets and two musicians who create poetry-music shows. The Band launched its first CD in February 2005, which was from a live performance at a Montreal bistro, Le Va-et-Vient. In the Band, D Kimm performs and sings her own texts and backs up the group with her accordion, music boxes and percussion instruments. She is currently working on an album that will be entitled Le Silence des hommes, in which she is composing all of the songs and other text and part of the music, in collaboration with guitarist Bernard Falaise.

Artistic direction

Since 1994, D Kimm has handled the artistic direction of events featuring writers, musicians, dancers, performers and actors. She has directed some forty shows, many for the Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ) and the Festival de la littérature (FIL), of which she was the Artistic Director from 1994 to 1998. Among these are Le Bestiaire (Lion d’Or, 1997), Dérives pour voyeurs consentants (Lion d’Or, 1997) and Le Marché des Mots Dits (Marché Bonsecours, 1998) in cooperation with Dennis O’Sullivan, L’Archipel des mots (Cabaret, 2000), the 1996 and 1997 editions of Write pour écrire (Lion d’Or), Howls and whispers (Lion d’Or, 2001) and Guerre à la guerre (Gesù) and Auteurs et personnages: Cabaret littéraire à double tranchant (Lion d’Or) as part of the Festival international de littérature (2002).

She was behind the shows Leçons de flânage (in collaboration with Dennis O’Sullivan) and Pas de chicane dans ma cabane presented at the Festival des Francophonies de Limoges (1995-1996). In May 1999, she organized an event featuring a number of Quebec poets during the Festival la Roméria de Mayo (Holguin/Cuba).

For four years, she organized La Cavale des Auteurs, an event that brought musicians and writers together every August at Baie Saint-Paul’s Auberge Le Balcon Vert, in cooperation with the Symposium de la nouvelle peinture in Baie Saint-Paul. She also gives writing workshops and directs literary shows with students at the elementary, secondary and college levels. She was a literary contributor to Télé-Québec’s program Cent titres in 2000-2001 and a jury member for the Digital Arts section at the 2001 FCMM.

D Kimm is director of Les Filles électriques, an organization whose mandate is to create multidisciplinary artistic events based on oral and written literature. Les Filles électriques produces the Festival Voix d’Amériques. D Kimm is also a member of the board of directors of Culture Montréal and Regroupement des arts interdisciplinaires du Québec. She is presently working on an album that will be entitled “Le Silence des hommes”, in collaboration with guitarist Bernard Falaise and on Mankind, a duo with the performer Alexis O’Hara. [viii-06]