“The land of misfit toys”

It was Erin Scott’s kindergarten stage debut that convinced her parents their child was a born performer. During a Christmas concert, she was standing at the back of the stage blending in—but then the music started. “I parted the other children, came to the front of the stage, and bellowed the songs,” Erin recounts, grinning.

It took Erin a little longer than her parents to realize her true calling. She arrived at UBC’s Vancouver campus in 2007 with aspirations of entering law or business but quickly figured out those paths weren’t for her. Throughout Erin’s first year of “being a bit of a mess,” one fact remained constant: their burning desire to write. (Erin alternately uses she and they pronouns.) For a long time, they’d kept their love for performance and writing separate but now realized their future lay at the intersection: writing for the stage. They transferred to UBCO to study creative writing, falling in love with the small classes and open mics.

In 2014, Erin began attending spoken-word events at Inspired Word Café (IWC), a volunteer-run arts society. Early on, founder Rawle James asked Erin to help out. “I just figured it would be putting up chairs and maybe helping poster,” Erin laughs, but it became clear that Rawle was training them to take over IWC. Erin and her partner Cole Mash (now IWC’s executive director) committed to staying “hyper local” and building up a literary hub. They have since registered IWC as a non-profit society.

From the start, creating community and fostering exchange have been core values. While many CanLit organizations centre professional reading series, IWC has always prioritized open mics where anyone can perform, from some of Canada’s largest literary names (think Jordan Abel, Richard Wagamese, and Sheri-D Wilson) to first-time poets.

Different communities don’t always mix perfectly—which is partly the point. IWC’s democratic programming pushes traditionally trained artists beyond their preconceptions of “good art,” while also exposing locals to the national literary scene. “There’s always tension,” Erin admits, but starting conversations is one of IWC’s goals. “We joke all the time that IWC is like the land of misfit toys, and that means our programming is probably the most diverse in the Okanagan.”

Two years ago, IWC launched the annual New Leaves Festival. The inaugural theme, “Queer Art as Resistance,” was in response to a surge in anti-queer sentiment. “We are, in a lot of ways, catering to the margins,” says Erin. “I think that's a foundational aspect to IWC.”

These days, Erin is IWC’s board president and has an active role in the development and production of the organization. She is nearing completion of her PhD in Interdisciplinary studies at UBCO, with the presentation of a video poetry exhibition in May 2026. “I’m in a bit of a making phase,” she smiles.