Resonating Messages A native Montrealer from the West Island, Valerie Khayat has slowly but surely become a staple in Montreal's spoken word and poetry scene, recently publishing her latest work, The Road to Vesper. On Oct. 13th, she is launching her official foray onto the Montreal music scene with the release of her album Resonance in blue. Siafu met up with 24-year-old Khayat at Caf Shaika in NDG, where she has been carrying out an internship with the NDG community council. SIAFU: Much of your music is very personal, and seems to come from a place of deep reflection, but others are very tangibly political. How do you find a balance between speaking about your personal experiences but in a way that is relevant to others? KHAYAT: For the first part of your question, when I started off writing it was very, very personal. It was less about social commentary for me when I started off. When I moved to that, I think it reflected where I was in my life: moving towards being more active, reading up on social issues and understanding them. So I think everything reflects the space your in. But finding the balance -- I do think that, for me, the personal is political. Your political interests are reflected in your actions every day. So somebody may have the possibility to volunteer, to go overseas and actually go to Third World countries and do their part that way, but I think that when you talk about