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anthologies

Sublime and Twisted Readings coming up!

The Sublime poetry anthology is reactivating this season!  I’ll be among those reading on Friday September 11 at Planet Earth Poetry‘s fundraising 31st season opener – come along to Victoria’s own Russell Books at 7:30pm if you’re in the neighbourhood – the event features a mega sale of gently used poetry books for $5, plus of course shiny new copies of Sublime!

Then at the Britannia Branch Library in Vancouver on Wednesday September 16 I’ll be joining more poets reading from the anthology at the Twisted Poets Literary Salon, an event generously sponsored by both the Writers Union of Canada and the League of Canadian Poets.

It’s an off-site event of the Word Vancouver festival which I’ll be attending on Saturday September 19, coordinating our Writers Union of Canada exhibitors’ table – do drop by if you’re there, and meet a writer or two!

Sublime

I was honoured to be one of the 110 poets included in Yvonne Blomer’s latest and last poetry anthology dealing with the difficult aspects of climate change and water.

Sublime: Poems for Vanishing Ice is now freshly launched, following two days of readings, commencing on what was appropriately both World Poetry Day and World Water Day.

Not all 110 poets featured read, but 28 of us came from near and far, with pleasure, gratitude and admiration for Yvonne’s perseverance over the past decade of her work on the trilogy.

Three gorgeous posters for silent auction: Refugium, Sweet Water, and Sublime.

Sublime launch!

The amazing Yvonne Blomer has completed her massive editing project – a trilogy of poetry anthologies about water – Refugium addressed concerns about our oceans; Sweet Water, the watersheds; and now Sublime: Poems for Vanishing Ice makes its debut (with snowcones!) on World Poetry Day (March 21) and (March 22), at Open Space. The launch days include joyous mingling, workshops, and  lots of other stuff. Here’s the story so far – hope you can join us!

Saturday March 21 Gallery hours from 12-5
Launch from 5:30-9
12-9 – Exhibit of visual art, videos and knowledge displays
12:30-2 – Ekphrastic poetry and collage workshops
12-5 – CRD Table “A Drop of Water”
5:30 evening event begins: public coming to attend the reading can come early to view the art and videos and interact with the books and collage table
7:00 launch of Sublime: Poems for Vanishing Ice
Yvonne opens the evening reading and performance. Poets will read dispersed by performance art by Grace Salez, Judie Price, Jane Story
9:00 event ends.
Sunday March 22 Gallery from 12-5
12-5 – Exhibit of visual art, videos and knowledge displays
12:30-2 – Ekphrastic poetry and collage workshops
12-5 – CRD Table “A Drop of Water”
3-4:30 – Second reading with questions from audience
4:30-5 – mingle, chat, vide videos and art Auction of Cover Art posters

 

Worth More Standing – Nanaimo Launch

Followers of environmental news will know of the ongoing protests over old growth logging at Fairy Creek, southwest Vancouver Island. In tune with this, Christine Lowther named the substantial anthology she’s edited for Caitlin Press Worth More Standing.

Clocking in at 239 pages, the anthology is a veritable forest of Canadian poets paying homage to trees of all kinds. I am one who contributed two poems to this work, including a poem from Larder.

On Saturday May 28 I will join five other poets at the Harbourfront Library in Nanaimo to help launch this with a live, in-person reading.

Poets who will be reading at the Nanaimo launch include: Leanne McIntosh, Ann Graham Walker. Rhona McAdam, Nicole Moen, Sheena Robinson and Kim Goldberg.

The reading runs from 1-3pm and is free and open to all.

Reading at Malahat Review Fall Launch Wednesday November 9

Next Wednesday, November 9 The Malahat Review is holding its fall launch party at The Well in Victoria. The launch party is one of the things I really love about this magazine: never more than in these days of precarious arts funding, every literary publication deserves celebration. On this occasion I am delighted to be reading with Tom Wayman • Zoey Peterson • Richard Osler • Julie Paul.

I have crossed paths with Tom Wayman numerous times over the years, and did so again yesterday when we shared the airwaves on CFUV radio, being interviewed by Colin Dower and Brian Mason. Tom was asked about his passion for work poems: he’s edited a couple of anthologies of these, and my poem “The Grievance” (from Creating the Country) was included in the “Less Like Ants” section of  Paperwork, back in 1991. He also included “Infinite Beasts” (from Hour of the Pearl) in The Dominion of Love, an anthology of Canadian love poems published in 2001.

The publication of “Dowsing Stick” in Issue 176 marks my fourth appearance in Malahat Review since 1984, and I’m happy to be back in its pages. Hope to see you at the launch! 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 9th at The Well, 821 Fort Street, (between Quadra and Blanshard), Victoria BC. FREE Admission.

Is nothing safe?

Appalled to see that a salmonella outbreak in the UK was traced to Cadbury’s chocolate bars! But relieved to see that the source was not the chocolate but the crumb base. So purists can rest easy and carry on with that therapeutic intake.

Yesterday I found the perfect activity for the first gentle day of our heat wave: a visit to Merridale Cidery. We did the self-guided tour to see where and how the cider was made, admired the acres of apple trees and then enjoyed a small tasting of half a dozen of their products. Apple juice was thoughtfully provided for our under-age companion, who was at an age to enjoy the faerie fixtures that were strategically placed to help her endure the tour.

Scrumpy and Traditional Cider were my favourites. In West Country dialect, “scrump” meant to steal apples, and so Scrumpy was the name for pilfered apple cider. At 11% alcohol it was described as a “sit down” cider, and mercifully Merridale has departed from the traditional recipe which calls for raw pork as one of the ingredients.

Merridale puts on a mean spread in La Pommeraie Bistro, where we sat outside on the covered veranda and admired the orchard. I had some very nice pulled pork and apple crepes and the soup of the day, a cold honeydew-raspberry concoction which the waitress accurately described as “a smoothie without all the sugar”. It was garnished with chopped mint and gently flavoured with dill and was just the thing for a warm summer day.

The perfect surprise for this melting heat we’re facing was the arrival of my copy of Loutro Poems, an anthology of poetry by writers who attended World Spirit poetry courses 200-2005, lavishly illustrated with colour photos. As if I could forget…