Tanya Davis is a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her style is marked primarily by

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

poetry set to music.

Background

Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, she moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

for a time after high school to attend university, and then hitchhiked to

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, where she worked in community development"Tanya Davis' ''Gorgeous'' talk"
'' The Coast'', June 19, 2008. before moving to Halifax in 2005."The Evolution of Tanya Davis"
'' The Coast'', November 16, 2006.

Career

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, as well as four nominations for the MusicPEI Awards. She was named poet of the year in '' The Coasts annual year-end reader's poll for 2007. She followed up with ''Gorgeous Morning'' in 2008. She has toured across Canada and internationally as a poet and musician, both as a solo artist and with

Jenn Grant Jenn Grant (born August 20, 1980) is a Canadian folk pop singer-songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Career Grant performed as a musician for a time in her early teens, but stopped due to a bout of stage fright. She did not return to pe ...

. Davis attracted international press attention in 2010 when '' How to Be Alone'', an animated film directed by

Andrea Dorfman Andrea Dorfman (born October 29, 1968) is a Canadian screenwriter and film director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She directed the Emmy Award films ''Flawed (film), Flawed'' (2010) and ''Big Mouth'' (2012).Dorfman, Andrea. "Andreadorfman.com , ...

illustrating a spoken word piece by Davis, became popular on YouTube. She subsequently released her third album, ''Clocks and Hearts Keep Going'', in November 2010."Tanya Davis keeps going"
''The Coast'', November 18, 2010. The album was produced by

Jim Bryson James “Jim” Paul Sean Bryson (born April 30, 1969) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Briefly a founding member of the band Punchbuggy (band), Punchbuggy, he moved to a musical life under his own name with the release of his debut album, ''Th ...

. Davis authored a book of poetry titled ''At First, Lonely'' in spring 2011, published by Canadian publisher The Acorn Press. She also served as poet laureate of the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, she wrote the poetic narration to Millefiore Clarkes' ''Island Green'', a short documentary produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

about organic farming in PEI. In 2014, she appeared in her first acting role, starring in Andrea Dorfman's film ''

Heartbeat Heartbeat, heart beat or heartbeats may refer to: Science and technology * Heartbeat (biology), one cardiac cycle of the heart * Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system ** Heartbea ...

''. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...

. The film was named to the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

's year-end

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema". ''Welland Tribune'', November 23, ...

list for 2020.Victoria Ahearn
"Toronto International Film Festival releases Top Ten lists for 2020"
. ''

Squamish Chief The Stawamus Chief, officially Stawamus Chief Mountain (often referred to as simply The Chief, or less commonly Squamish Chief), is a granitic dome located adjacent to the town of Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. It towers over above the w ...

'', December 9, 2020.

Personal life

Davis has stated in the press that she identifies as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

Discography

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

References

External links

Tanya Davis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tanya 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Halifax, Nova Scotia Actresses from Prince Edward Island Bisexual women writers Bisexual women musicians Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters Bisexual poets Canadian bisexual actresses Canadian bisexual musicians Canadian bisexual writers Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian film actresses Canadian women poets Canadian spoken word poets Canadian feminists Feminist musicians Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Canadian LGBTQ poets Living people Singers from Prince Edward Island Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia People from Summerside, Prince Edward Island Canadian queer actresses Queer singer-songwriters Queer poets 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women pop singers Year of birth missing (living people) Poets laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Nova Scotia LGBTQ women singers Canadian queer musicians Poets from Halifax, Nova Scotia Poets from Prince Edward Island