Tanya 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.

Tanya Davis
Davis (2017)
Background information
OriginSummerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada
GenresPop, folk, spoken word
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, poet
Years active2006–present
Associated actsJenn Grant, Benn Ross, Catherine MacLellan, Jim Bryson
WebsiteTanya Davis

Background

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

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

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

References
  1. "Tanya Davis' Gorgeous talk". The Coast, June 19, 2008.
  2. "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. "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.". The Guardian PE, 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". 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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