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!
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!
I hadn’t been to Word Vancouver for several years. This year exhibitors were in the ice rink and readings and panels took place in the adjoining UBC classrooms and on the pavement level above.
Here we see a typically Vancouver spin, with tai chi practice at the edge of the literary exhibitor area.
And on my way to the venue I’d passed an outdoor yoga class in the courtyard of the former Nordstrom’s department store. But my main business at the event was overseeing the volunteers who had kindly offered to sit at the table and answer questions about the Writers Union of Canada, for which I am currently BC/Yukon representative.
We shared a table with Joy Kogawa House; good neighbours to have! And luckily for me, almost all the volunteers arrived on time, and I was able to catch a few of the readings and panels, including one featuring two Victoria writers, Lorna Crozier and Eve Joseph, who with Vancouver writer Tara McGuire were discussing Life After Loss, with Vancouver poet Rob Taylor presiding. At the end of the day, I managed to catch the very end of a panel I’d wanted to hear, featuring Hilary Peach and Kate Braid, with Heidi Greco, discussing their writings about working in trades as women.
Author Esmeralda Cabral works a shift at the TWUC tableLife After Loss – Rob Taylor, Lorna Crozier, Eve Joseph, Tara McGuireLorna Crozier speaks on lossHilary Peach reads; Heidi Greco, Kate Braid. Vancouver poet laureate Fiona Tinwei Lam listens
If you’re in Vancouver next Saturday April 20, please come to our reading! It’s at the Capilano Branch library, 3045 Highland Blvd, North Vancouver (Registration link: https://nvdpl.ca/node/5884/register) Please pass the word to North Shore poetry pals!
Vancouver has an abundance of parks, and I’ve been enjoying many a forested stroll in Pacific Spirit, but also got a nice walk in somewhere up the side of Cypress Mountain, on the north shore, which has many trails.
At Pacific Spirit Park I’m particularly taken by the determination of young trees to grow from the stumps of the old giants who were long felled here. The elders nurture the new growth until they dissolve, leaving the youngsters to sort out their root system which is far above ground level.
The last couple of weeks have swung past in a mainly permacultural haze.
The first screening at a new permaculture film night series was Anima Mundi, a bit of a collective disappointment for the 20-odd souls who crowded into the Community Microlending Society office, but a cheery networking session, lively discussion and helpful information share ensued.
I went for my second round of Permaculture Design classes last weekend, in which we built a hot compost bed in a classically low-maintenance permacultural manner (meaning: let nature do its thing). We prepared the ground by sheet-mulching with layers of cardboard; built a hollowed shell from horse manure; filled it with weeds and seriously rotten kitchen waste; and then covered it with more horse manure. Rats apparently don’t care to dig through manure to get to rotten food. You can then plant squash on top, which keeps the weeds down and thrives on the nitrogenous waste beneath. And harvest fresh soil in a year’s time, when the hill will have sunk to about ground level. Or leave it in place and plant something else there.
Later we went for a forest walk with Brandon Bauer in order to test our powers of observation and taste a few ants. Very tasty indeed. A sharp organoleptic explosion that Brandon likened to tamarind or vinegar; I’d say a very acerbic sorrel.
And finally, back to poetry. I read with Ruth Pierson and Ted Blodgett at Vancouver Public Library last night and a good time was had by all, I’d say. I read food poems to one of the most responsive and delightful audiences ever, and sold lots of books, including the last few copies of Sunday Dinners. If you have one, you can now officially treasure it as a rare book.
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.
