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Tanya Davis

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Tanya Davis
Davis (2017)
Davis (2017)
Background information
OriginSummerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
GenresPop, folk, spoken word
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, poet
Years active2006–present
WebsiteTanya Davis

Tanya Davis is a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her style is marked primarily by spoken word poetry set to music.

Background

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Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, she moved to Ottawa for a time after high school to attend university, and then hitchhiked to British Columbia, where she worked in community development[1] before moving to Halifax in 2005.[2]

Career

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Shortly after moving to Halifax, Davis began performing spoken word poetry at various cafés in the city. She soon recorded an album, Make a List, which was nominated for Female Recording of the Year, Alternative Recording of the Year and Album of the Year at the Nova Scotia Music Awards, along with a nomination for Davis herself as New Artist of the Year,[2] as well as four nominations for the MusicPEI Awards.[1] She was named poet of the year in The Coast's annual year-end reader's poll for 2007.

She followed up with Gorgeous Morning in 2008.[1]

She has toured across Canada and internationally as a poet and musician, both as a solo artist and with Jenn Grant.[3]

Davis attracted international press attention in 2010 when a performance video of her poem "How to Be Alone", directed by Andrea Dorfman, became popular on YouTube.[4] She subsequently released her third album, Clocks and Hearts Keep Going, in November 2010.[5] The album was produced by Jim Bryson.[5]

Davis authored a book of poetry titled At First, Lonely in spring 2011, published by Canadian publisher The Acorn Press.[6] She also served as poet laureate of the Halifax Regional Municipality from 2011 to 2013.[7]

In 2013, she wrote the poetic narration to Millefiore Clarkes' Island Green, a short documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada about organic farming in PEI.[8]

In 2014, she appeared in her first acting role, starring in Andrea Dorfman's film Heartbeat.[9]

In 2020 Dorfman and Davis again collaborated on the short film How to Be At Home, based on another poem by Davis about coping with isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[10] The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2020.[11]

Personal life

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Davis has stated in the press that she identifies as queer:

My sexuality is as fluid as my creativity. I don't sit firmly in the category of lesbian, but I don't sit firmly in poet or songwriter either. I love people for people. I think the way I love is queer.[12]

Discography

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  • Make a List (2006)
  • Gorgeous Morning (2008)
  • Clocks and Hearts Keep Going (2010)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tanya Davis' Gorgeous talk". The Coast, June 19, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "The Evolution of Tanya Davis". The Coast, November 16, 2006.
  3. ^ "Singers giving concert at the Haviland Club". Charlottetown Guardian, March 30, 2007.
  4. ^ "Tanya Davis isn't alone anymore, she's in the Guardian" Archived April 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. The Coast, August 13, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Tanya Davis keeps going". The Coast, November 18, 2010.
  6. ^ "At first, lovely; Mayor's poet laureate for Halifax, Tanya Davis, shines in her debut book of poetry". The Telegraph-Journal, June 25, 2011.
  7. ^ "Davis returns to province". The Telegraph-Journal, June 10, 2011.
  8. ^ "Documentary Island Green contemplates an all organic P.E.I.". Charlottetown Guardian, January 25, 2014.
  9. ^ "Director invites you – and only you". The Globe and Mail, September 6, 2014.
  10. ^ Morgan Mullin, "Andrea Dorfman and Tanya Davis teach us How To Be At Home". The Coast, September 24, 2020.
  11. ^ Victoria Ahearn, "Toronto International Film Festival releases Top Ten lists for 2020" Archived January 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Squamish Chief, December 9, 2020.
  12. ^ "In the Dead of Winter festival heats up Halifax's music scene". Xtra!, January 29, 2009.
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