DAVID WOODS
Poet, playwright, visual artist, curator, storyteller, stage director, arts organizer
David Woods was born in Trinidad W.I., in 1959 and grew up in Dartmouth, NS. He attended John Martin Jr. High, Dartmouth High School and Dalhousie University. In 1984 he organized the first Black History Month public event at the Halifax North Branch Library and over the next ten years helped build this activity into a provincial celebration (now African Heritage Month). He is the organizing founder of several arts and culture organizations including the Cultural Awareness Youth Group of Nova Scotia (1982), Voices Black Theatre Ensemble (1990), Black Artists Network of Nova Scotia (1991), Black History Month Association of Nova Scotia (1989) and the Preston Cultural Festival (2001). He has published a notable collection of poetry Native Song (Pottersfield Press 1990, revised edition Nimbus Publishing 2009) that has been taught in English curriculums in schools and universities. His plays including The Dream Continues, Part of The Deal, Black Journey and Once: Africville Stories have been performed on stages across Canada and broadcast nationally on CBC Radio. He has headlined storytelling and spoken word festivals in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Labrador. He has curated important art exhibitions in both visual art and quilts including In This Place: The First Exhibition of African Nova Scotian art in the province (Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1998) and the popular The Secret Codes: African Nova Scotian Picture Quilts. His paintings have been featured in exhibitions at Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Dalhousie Art Gallery and McGill University, Toronto. He has contributed his writings, drama, artwork and/or music to a number of important Canadian arts projects including Sylvia Hamilton’s film documentary Speak It (Gemini Award 1993), jazz composer Joe Sealy’s Africville Suite (Juno Award 1996), Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s choral performance And Still We Sing (2000) and the Black Halifax Video Series (2015). His poetry and artwork have appeared in over 40 anthologies and school textbooks in Canada and Europe. He is the winner of the Nova Scotia Poetry Award (1989), George Elliot Clarke Literary Competition First Place Prize (1997, 1998), National Black Poetry Competition First Place Prize (1998), Canada Council Millennium Arts Award (2000), Best Drama, Best Original Script Awards 2015 Atlantic Fringe Festival, and numerous community awards for leadership. He is currently working on Preston- a new collection and paintings about the community of North Preston.
