Jeff Bien

Jeff Bien is an internationally acclaimed poet and musician, and highly regarded practitioner of meditation, consciousness, and spirituality. His work has been published, translated, and performed in more than sixty countries. He is the author of numerous books that have received critical acclaim in Canada and abroad, and his poetry has been the recipient of many awards. His last book, In a Time of No Song, was released by Exile Editions, and he has recently completed two new collections—One Hundred Seconds to Midnight and The Archaeological Digest of Names—and a lifetime’s work on consciousness.

His music has been praised for its vision and lyrical quality, and for inspiring and awakening social and spiritual consciousness. Bien’s work embodies diverse musical and cultural influences, engaging oral and formal traditions that include the migrancy of folk, jazz, classical, African. and spiritual idioms. Such work has received fraternal greetings from Leonard Cohen; accolades from Mercan Dede, Liona Boyd, and David Broza; and a myriad of other international artists. A number of his poems have been put to musical compositions; been released on EMI and other labels with recordings of Mahatma Gandhi and Rumi; and traveled the world alongside his own recordings.

His work was recently recognized by some of Canada’s foremost musicians and writers, and it will be released in 2022 as both a live CD and documentary entitled: Song in a Time of No Song. It celebrates the spiritus of his poetry, music, and consciousness work.

Prison Song