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AMBER O'REILLY
MULTILINGUAL POET SPOKEN WORD ARTIST PLAYWRIGHT SCREENWRITER EVENT HOST COMMUNITY-MINDED HUMAN |
Photo: CWK Creative
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WORDS TO LIGHT YOUR HEART ON FIRE
Amber O’Reilly sets hearts on fire. Her words connect us all as she dissects the pain and amplifies the joy in our human experiences. She writes to heal and flies over the moon when readers and audiences find solace in her work. From language poems with heart to poignant and relatable plays, Amber strives to distill all that she has lived into images and instants, holding them up to the light with curious wonder.
As a multidisciplinary artist and creative entrepreneur, she produces word-based artworks, performs on stage, shaping stories with collaborators and clients, in many languages.
As a multidisciplinary artist and creative entrepreneur, she produces word-based artworks, performs on stage, shaping stories with collaborators and clients, in many languages.
CALENDAR
Art happens on time.
TESTIMONIALS
Amber's poems unfurl smartly into beautiful labyrinths of feeling. There’s such feisty play with language balanced with in-depth emotional landscapes.
‒Adèle Barclay, ARC Poet-in-Residence Mentorship Program
On I stay in your bed raining: "A beautifully fluid poem that works on enjambment and well-chosen line breaks, alliterative sounds, and oral rhythms. I really like the imagery of maps and cartography which ties the poem to a poetic tradition of love and mapping. I'm thinking of Shakespeare and John Donne. This poem is chaotic in a good way--the verse of stasis while thoughts fly about."
On what's in a game: "This poem very effectively contracts the visceral description of a revved-up city getting ready for a play-off game‒'de-iced fuelled up, propellers blurring, butts and dust'‒with a more serious, politically sinister version of the city in the third stanza. The reader's shock at this 'bitter spring', the city is defined by its problematic history and uneasy present 'neocolonial museums', poverty, addiction), is especially palpable in the context of the (expected) hockey narrative. I really like this poem; the way you turn hockey culture, rah-rah language and city boosterism on its head."
On we leave our initials: "I love the insubstantiality of this poem which is about how images and words can take the place of bodies in a love poem. Bravo! It is very imagistic with a sense of slightness that belies true seriousness. Nicely balanced. I love the way the details in the first stanza deftly give a sense of place to the love story that is unfolding. It's interesting that the lovers themselves seem so disembodied‒the story is told through images and details: the red carnival dog, the money split in the taxi cab, the stairwell, the concrete 'stained' with shadows. And even more interesting, the 'I' is also absent except as a narrative voice. The effect is very moving, as if the love affair can only be told tentatively, gingerly. The Spanish words add to this concealment especially if, like me, you have to look them up!"
‒Méira Cook, Diaspora Dialogues Short-Form Mentorship
On nightwalk: "This poem takes a big, dangerous subject and renders it in a deceivingly light way. The sonnet forces an economy of language that suits this material. The beat of the words is like footsteps, a nice touch. I also like the effect the use of lower case and the absence of punctuation has throughout the poem. It suits and enhances the lightness of this poem on the page."
‒Lori Cayer, Creative Manitoba Careers in the Arts Mentorship Program 2018-19
"Your love of language is clear. You have a wonderful density to her language/image combinations. I also love the way you hover moments and let the reader briefly see the subject in all its mystical beauty. You are encroaching fresh syntaxes and slippages. Lovely play and sonority. These are language poems with heart."
‒Jennifer Still, Winnipeg Public Library Writer-in-Residence 2017-18
"Amber, thanks so much for sharing your poems with us. We've enjoyed them immensely! You have such a distinct poetic voice, and your poems truly leap off the page. There's a real tunefulness to your writing; the poems move through time and space in surprising ways."
‒Christine Fellows & John K. Samson, Winnipeg Public Library Writers-in-Residence 2016-17
‒Adèle Barclay, ARC Poet-in-Residence Mentorship Program
On I stay in your bed raining: "A beautifully fluid poem that works on enjambment and well-chosen line breaks, alliterative sounds, and oral rhythms. I really like the imagery of maps and cartography which ties the poem to a poetic tradition of love and mapping. I'm thinking of Shakespeare and John Donne. This poem is chaotic in a good way--the verse of stasis while thoughts fly about."
On what's in a game: "This poem very effectively contracts the visceral description of a revved-up city getting ready for a play-off game‒'de-iced fuelled up, propellers blurring, butts and dust'‒with a more serious, politically sinister version of the city in the third stanza. The reader's shock at this 'bitter spring', the city is defined by its problematic history and uneasy present 'neocolonial museums', poverty, addiction), is especially palpable in the context of the (expected) hockey narrative. I really like this poem; the way you turn hockey culture, rah-rah language and city boosterism on its head."
On we leave our initials: "I love the insubstantiality of this poem which is about how images and words can take the place of bodies in a love poem. Bravo! It is very imagistic with a sense of slightness that belies true seriousness. Nicely balanced. I love the way the details in the first stanza deftly give a sense of place to the love story that is unfolding. It's interesting that the lovers themselves seem so disembodied‒the story is told through images and details: the red carnival dog, the money split in the taxi cab, the stairwell, the concrete 'stained' with shadows. And even more interesting, the 'I' is also absent except as a narrative voice. The effect is very moving, as if the love affair can only be told tentatively, gingerly. The Spanish words add to this concealment especially if, like me, you have to look them up!"
‒Méira Cook, Diaspora Dialogues Short-Form Mentorship
On nightwalk: "This poem takes a big, dangerous subject and renders it in a deceivingly light way. The sonnet forces an economy of language that suits this material. The beat of the words is like footsteps, a nice touch. I also like the effect the use of lower case and the absence of punctuation has throughout the poem. It suits and enhances the lightness of this poem on the page."
‒Lori Cayer, Creative Manitoba Careers in the Arts Mentorship Program 2018-19
"Your love of language is clear. You have a wonderful density to her language/image combinations. I also love the way you hover moments and let the reader briefly see the subject in all its mystical beauty. You are encroaching fresh syntaxes and slippages. Lovely play and sonority. These are language poems with heart."
‒Jennifer Still, Winnipeg Public Library Writer-in-Residence 2017-18
"Amber, thanks so much for sharing your poems with us. We've enjoyed them immensely! You have such a distinct poetic voice, and your poems truly leap off the page. There's a real tunefulness to your writing; the poems move through time and space in surprising ways."
‒Christine Fellows & John K. Samson, Winnipeg Public Library Writers-in-Residence 2016-17
TERRITORY & TREATY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg) and the the land on which I practice is the traditional territory of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
I am from Sǫ̀mbak'è (Yellowknife), located on Chief Drygeese Territory, traditional home of the Yellowknives Dene. These are also the traditional lands of the North Slave Metis. I further extend my respect to all First Nations, Inuit, Métis and Indigenous peoples of the North who have chosen to make Denendeh or Nunatsiaq (the Northwest Territories) their home.
I am from Sǫ̀mbak'è (Yellowknife), located on Chief Drygeese Territory, traditional home of the Yellowknives Dene. These are also the traditional lands of the North Slave Metis. I further extend my respect to all First Nations, Inuit, Métis and Indigenous peoples of the North who have chosen to make Denendeh or Nunatsiaq (the Northwest Territories) their home.