Dirk "Baba" Brinkman

Contact Information:

  Address:

1384 E 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC
V5N 1T2
Canada

  Phone: 604-862-6834

  Email: info@babasword.com

 

Education:

  Degrees:

á          First Class Honours B.A. in English, Simon Fraser University (April 2000)

á          Master of Arts in English, University of Victoria (April 2003)

 

  Areas of Professional Interest:

Chaucer, Late Medieval/Early Renaissance Lit, Contemporary Urban Verse, Poetry in Competition

 

  Graduate Courses:

á          Engl 571 - 20th Century African American Lit.

á          Engl 503 - Theories of Drama and Performance

á          Engl 515 - New Historicism to Cultural History

á          Engl 500 - Bibliography and Research Methods

á          Engl 502 - Teaching University Level Literature and Composition

á          Engl 503 - History of the English Language

á          Engl 503 - Language Against Law

á          Engl 520 - The Decline of Humanism

á          Engl 598 - Master's Graduating Essay

á          FLAS 592 - Quichua Language and Literature

 

  Additional Training:

á          British Columbia Wildlife/Danger-tree Appraisal Certification (2001)

á          University of Victoria Instructional Skills Workshop for T.A. Training and Presentation Techniques (2002)

á          Arizona State University Graduate Field School in Anthropology: Ecuadorian Indigenous Language and Culture (2002)

á          Langara College School of Business: Self-Employment Program Diploma (2004)

 

Work Experience:

  Silviculture Worker & Foreman:

á          Brinkman & Associates Reforestation Ltd.

604-521-7771

April - July, 1997-2003 & May 2008

Planting seedlings, physical labour, driving trucks, map reading, quality control, managing a crew of 6-8 workers.

 

  Self-Employment:

á          Babasword Productions

January 2004 - Present

Operations include the booking, writing, arranging, producing, performing and promoting of live rap music, poetry and theatre events, as well as developing and presenting educational workshops for schools and conferences and recording and distributing original music and poetry albums.

 

á          Lit Fuse Records Inc

January 2007 - Present

Operations include music production and publishing, engineering, mixing, mastering, manufacture and sales of CDs, online digital sales of Mp3s, music licensing for film and television, administering publishing rights for musical compositions.

 

Teaching Experience:

á          Guest lecture: Engl 451, University of Victoria - Contemporary Canadian Lit (Thomas King and Green Grass, Running Water), February 2002.

á          Twenty hours essay marking experience assisting Dr. Sheila Ross for Douglas College's Intro to Poetry Course, November 2003.

á          Teaching placements in three undergraduate composition and introductory literature courses at UVic, including explication of poetry, technical grammar lessons, techniques of rhetorical analysis, and facilitating class discussion, October-December 2001.

 

Performing Experience:

  Festivals:

á          Starbelly Jam Music Festival, Crawford Bay, BC - July 2001

á          Shambhala Electronic Music Festival, Salmo, BC - August 2002

á          Starbelly Jam Music Festival, Crawford Bay BC - July 2003

á          Vancouver Fringe Festival, Vancouver BC - September 2003

á          Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton, England - May 2004

á          Prague Fringe Festival, Prague, Czech Rep - June 2004

á          Montreal Fringe Festival, Montreal, QC - June 2004

á          Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto, ON - July 2004

á          Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland - August 2004

á          Victoria Fringe Festival, Victoria, BC - September 2004

á          San Francisco Fringe Festival, San Francisco, CA - September 2004

á          Fresno Rogue Festival, Fresno, CA - March 2005

á          Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton, England - May 2005

á          Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland - August 2005

á          Mountain Arts Festival, Revelstoke, BC - September 2005

á          Calgary WriterÕs Festival, Calgary, AB - October 2005

á          Edmonton WriterÕs Festival, Edmonton, AB - October 2005

á          Vancouver WriterÕs Festival, Vancouver, BC - October 2005

á          Adelaide Fringe Festival, Adelaide, Australia - February 2006

á          Morpeth Nothumbrian Gathering, Morpeth, UK - April 2006

á          Wigan Words Festival, Wigan, UK - April 2006

á          Belfast Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Belfast, UK - May 2006

á          Lancashire Book Festival, Lancaster, UK - June 2006

á          Harleston & Waveney Festival, Norfolk, UK - June 2006

á          Hebden Bridge Literature Festival, Norfolk, UK - July 2006

á          Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering, Morpeth, UK - April 2007

á          Avalon Can Festival, Glastonbury, UK - May 2007

á          Montreal Fringe Festival, Montreal, QC - June 2007

á          Ottawa Fringe Festival, Ottawa, ON - June 2007

á          Toronto Fringe Festival, Toronto, ON - July 2007

á          Port Eliot Literature Festival, Cornwall, UK - July 2007

á          Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, UK - August 2007

á          Brisbane WriterÕs Festival, Brisbane, Australia - September 2007

á          Canberra WriterÕs Festival, Canberra, Australia - September 2007

á          Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne, Australia - October 2007

 

  Classroom Presentations:

á          Over 100 presentations and workshops in High School, college and university classrooms in Victoria and Greater Vancouver, 2003 - 2008.

á          30 presentations and workshops in High School and Primary school classrooms sponsored by the Cambridge University English Department in the UK, January - July 2005.

á          10 presentations in High Schools and colleges in South Australia, February - March 2006

á          30 presentations in High Schools and colleges in England, Scotland & Northern Ireland, April - July 2006

á          20 presentations in High Schools and colleges in England & Germany, April - June 2007

 

  Academic:

á          Guest speaker & performer at the University of Victoria's Department of Humanities Annual Medieval Studies Symposium - Feb 2003.

á          Workshop coordinator & performer at the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation's "Think Again" Conference in Ottawa, September 2004.

á          Presenter at the B.C. Teachers of English Language Arts (BCTELA) Conference on innovated teaching practices, Vancouver, 2003 & 2004.

á          Presenter at the California Association of Independent Schools Conference in Atherton, CA, 2005.

 

  Other:

Dozens of appearances on radio/television and hundreds of performances at slam poetry competitions, open mic nights, live freestyle battles, family gatherings, dinner parties, academic conferences, outdoor community events, Spoken Word nights, talent shows, hip-hop shows, clubs, house parties, jam sessions, etc.

 

Awards and Scholarships:

á          Simon Fraser University Summit Entrance Scholarship, 1996-1997

á          University of Victoria George Forbes Fellowship, 2001-2002

á          HRDC Self-Employment Start-Up Grant, 2004

á          Nominated for a Tap Water Award for Theatrical Excellence, Edinburgh 2004

á          Nominated for Best Actor & Best International Performer, Brighton Fringe 2005

á          Nominated for an Inspiration EntrepreneurÕs Award Vancouver 2005

á          Winner of the Three Weeks EditorÕs Award, Edinburgh Fringe 2007

 

Publications and Conference Papers:

á          The Rap Canterbury Tales (Talon Books 2006)

á          Presenter, University of Victoria Graduate Conference, February 2002

á          Presenter, University of Victoria, Humanities Centre Graduate Conference on Storytelling, March 2002

á          Presenter, University of British Columbia Arts Graduate Conference, February 2003

 

Academic References:

Dr. Kathryn Kerby-Fulton

Professor

Department of English

Notre Dame University

331 Decio Faculty Hall

Notre Dame, IN 46556

(574) 631-7372

 

Dr. Paul Budra

Associate Professor

Department of English

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby BC V5A 1S6

tel: 604-291-4085