moe clark
Biography
âpihtawikosisâniskwêw (Michif/mixed-settler) multidisciplinary artist Moe Clark (she/they) is a 2Spirit singing thunderbird. Born and raised in Treaty 7, they are a proud member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Currently they reside as a guest in Tio'tiá:ke/ Mooniyang/ Montréal (QC) where she works as an artist and educator. A dedicated nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree language) and Michif language learner, Moe collaborates intimately with Elders and knowledge keepers to advance language resurgence through song-based practices. She works across disciplines of vocal improvisation, sound design, land-based oskapêwis facilitation (ceremonial Elder apprenticeship), and performance creation, to create work that centres embodied knowledge, 2Spirit Indigenous resurgence, and creative kinship.
Moe’s last solo album “Within” toured across North America and her collaborative video poem “nitahkôtân” won best Indigenous language music video at the ImagiNative film festival. Moe’s poem “committing a dream / pawâkan Palestine” won the 2024 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize through the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Since 2017 Moe’s hosted mâmawi musique, a weekly podcast on Espaces Autochtones, highlighting Indigenous music around the globe.
Moe completed their Master of Arts at Concordia University highlighting 2Spirit resurgence through drum carrier practices and song creation. Their Masters research and creation was awarded a 2025 Concordia University Social Justice Fellow and a 2025 Certificate of Excellence from the National Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research for innovative research into healing practices through song creation. Moe has performed the world over, including the Lincoln Centre (US), Sydney Opera House (AU) and Origins Festival in London (UK).
Micro-interview
I come into poetry through music. Song is my first language. I would listen to Björk, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone for hours and memorize their songs and lyrics. When I got my license I played "Coyote" by Joni Mitchell religiously on my car ride to school from the suburbs. My dad had recorded it from vinyl to cassette so I could listen to it in my Malibu Classic. Mitchell's lyricism, turns of phrase and rhythmic understanding of language inspired me in my poetry, while Nina Simone's fierceness and conviction inspire my political lens and Björk's experimentation with vocal styles inspires my vocal layering and looping pedal dynamics.
I was a really quiet kid. I was always hiding in poetry and drawings, but didn't actually consider myself a poet until my early twenties when I started hanging out with some local poets. I met Sheri-D Wilson, a beat poet who had studied at Naropa with Anne Waldman, Ginsberg, etc, when she came in to perform for a typography class I was taking at art school. When I heard her share, I had a revelation: "Oh, this is totally what I have been doing + want to do more of." So I connected with her and she invited me to perform at the emerging poets showcase in the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. That was my start, and I've been writing and performing my own spoken word poetry and song ever since.
To transform the world into magic. To feast our senses. To say with beauty and metaphor what others struggle to say.
I already have Rita Joe's poem "I Lost My Talk" memorized and reference her brilliant offering often in the workshops that I teach. With these piece, I've invited students and youth to consider the way that systemic violence has played out in their worlds, and the ways they've resisted and used their voice as an instrument for change.