Dining with artists

Dining with artists | an evening with poet, playwright and performer, Titilope Sonuga

The Friends of Royal Alberta Museum Society (FRAMS) and Feed the Soul YEG invite you to join us for an evening of celebration and conversation centered around Juneteenth, featuring poet, playwright and performer Titilope Sonuga. 

Titilope’s work is a testament to the transformative impact of storytelling and Black joy. Her work embodies a sense of rootedness and unflinching womanhood that resonates beyond the stage or pen. 

We will be enjoying the rich flavours of a Juneteenth-inspired BBQ menu by the team at Sauce Modern Caribbean Cuisine while exploring the history of Black settlement in Alberta through artistic expression and open conversation. 

Date: Thursday, June 19, 2025

Time: 6 to 9 p.m.

Location: Sauce Modern Caribbean Cuisine (13655 St Albert Trail NW, Edmonton, AB)

Cost: $120 including meal, tax and tip

Menu: 

• First course — watermelon salad
• Second course — beef brisket or beyond meat meatballs (vegetarian), stewed red beans and black eyed peas, corn coins, mixed sweet potato salad and hush puppies with a spicy honey 
• Third course — peach cobbler
• Feature beverage — sorrel margarita (available at an additional cost)

Dining with Artists is bringing a twist to Dining with Authors, which is a spin-off of FRAMS’ popular Dining with Friends events. First conceived in 2013 by Linda Tzang (former RAM cultural communities curator), the series has introduced diners to different cuisines at a variety of family-run restaurants across Edmonton. These new variations continue to combine food and cultural communities. We look forward to welcoming both new and familiar faces as we bond together over history, culture and great food.

Tickets include the meal, tax and tip. Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are not included but can be purchased directly from the restaurant. We are unable to accommodate food sensitivities or make any modifications to the menu. 

Tickets are limited and are on sale now! We try to accommodate, but cannot guarantee all seating requests; if you have a specific seating request, please let us know when purchasing your ticket, or contact us at info@frams.ca by June 16, 2025. Full refunds are available until one week prior to the event.

About the artist

Titilope Sonuga is a globally renowned poet, playwright and performer. She renders, both in verse and performance, a quality of rootedness and unflinching womanhood that extends beyond the bounds of a single poem or poetic performance. 

Her genre-defying work has propelled her to a vibrant life in the arts. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014), and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has composed two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). 

She is a writer who blends a remarkable elegance of craft with an ever-present human quality that carries her words into expansive realms scripting campaigns for global brands, including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and the White Ribbon Alliance. She served a two-year term as an ambassador for Intel Corporation’s She Will Connect campaign, a program dedicated to empowering women and girls through technological literacy, commerce, and opportunity. 

Titilope Sonuga has written three plays: The Six (an intergenerational exploration of womanhood), Naked (a one-woman play) and Ada the Country (a musical). She played a lead role as an actor in the hit Nigerian television series Gidi Up. 

She was the first poet to perform at a Nigerian presidential inauguration in 2015 and was the ninth poet laureate of the City of Edmonton (2021 to 2023).

To learn more about Titilope’s work, visit her website Titilope.ca.