About this Event
Fast Facts
- One hour of featured readers and one hour of open mic slots
- Open mic slots are four minutes, timed
- Doors open 3:30, Features start at 4:00 - arrive early and on time as seating is limited
- Some tickets reserved for cash/card at the door
- The Foy House venue is only accessible by porch stairs
- Rhymestones is a dry/sober +18 event
Drag Poetics live in the language of verve and personal expression, and we invite any performer to take the stage who is interested in donning drag and speaking up!
We welcome all kinds of drag and spoken word, and encourage performers to experiment with what "drag poetry" means to them. A bluetooth speaker will be available for anyone that wants to perform with a backing track.
This is an event to enjoy and perform original works of spoken word and poetry.
Are you looking for a place to explore drag talents beyond lip sync?
Are you a poet who has always wanted to include costume elements or gender/identity play into their work but never had the space to do it?
Then you may be a Rhymestone!
We welcome the catty, the weird, the avant garde, the untranslatable, and the experimental. We welcome all languages, and all people committed to creating a safe place for artistic exploration.
Open mic performers are encouraged to incorporate drag costuming into their performance. We will not turn you away for not having a costume, but are prioritizing the artistic crossover, and will have a few costume elements on hand for those interested.
Nov 22nd Features:
Sebastian Urmom @sebastianurmom
Sebastian is the personified being of joy! Using sound to reconnect with masculinity and community. Join Sebastians at Crossroads Festival, Friday Nov 27. A community program fair and fundraiser for Find Missing Kids Ontario, grassroots org helping the kids and families of the missing black youth.
David Bateman
David Bateman is a performance poet and painter living in Toronto. His graduate work in English Literature and Creative Writing was done at the university of Calgary and he received his PhD from U of C in 2002. He has taught literature and Creative Writing at Trent University (Peterborough), Thompson Rivers University (instructor/writer-in residence, Kamloops), and Emily Carr (ECIAD). He has four poetry collections published by Frontenac House Press, a book of short stories and a work of creative nonfiction (A mad Bent Diva) published by Hidden Book Press, and his frist novel, DR SAD, was published by the University of Calgary Press.
Producer and Host:
Tusk Love (aka, Gene Atoms) @Tusk_L0ve
Tusk Love is a performance poet who tells stories through the sonic qualities of language inspired by Southern oral traditions. In drag, Tusk explores the queer crossroads of love, humor, and horror, and peels off zeir human costume for just long enough to finally be comfortable as something monstrous. Tusk Love's puppeteer, Gene Atoms, is the winner of the inaugrual Southern Word STEM Slam, has notable publications in Nashville Arts Magazine and Poetry Pause Fresh Voices, and has performed for Poetry Brothel Toronto, State of the Word at Vanderbilt University, Word on the Street, and was the host of the 2025 Student Cabaret at Toronto International Festival of Authors.
We do not tolerate hate speech on the mic or in social conduct, and do not accept "it was just a joke" as an excuse for bad behavior.
Event venue & nearby stays
Foy House, 92 Isabella Street, Toronto, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.